


RWBY: Immortals

by dongyrn



Category: BattleTech, RWBY
Genre: Ahoy thar be ships aplenty here, Also giant muthafuckin Battlemechs for the win, F/F, F/M, Multi, Poly ships represent, Why is this not a popular crossover yet?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 03:26:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15258390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dongyrn/pseuds/dongyrn
Summary: The year is 3025. An uneasy peace has settled across the Inner Sphere towards the end of the Third Succession War. But Ruby Rose, Mechwarrior and native of Remnant, wants to do more than just survive. And with the help of some friends, a few border conflicts, and a whole lot of luck, she might just become legendary. (RWBY Battletech/Mechwarrior AU)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Standard Disclaimer:** All rights belong to those whose rights they belong to, primarily Rooster Teeth for RWBY and CGL / Harebrained Schemes for all things Battletech, though quite namely not me. Don't own a thing.

Year: 3020  
Planet: Remnant  
Federated Suns

Signal Academy

" _By the beginning of the twenty-second century the Western Alliance had grown to become the Terran Alliance, and despite discontent from some of its poorer constituents pursued an agenda of rapid technological development. Faster-than-light travel, the theories of which were first postulated by Thomas Kearny and Takayoshi Fuchida in the early 21st century, were realized on September 3, 2107, with the successful voyage of the first FTL spacecraft, the TAS Pathfinder, which made a 12-light year jump to the Tau Ceti star system."_

Ruby Rose sighed, flipping through the screens on her outdated school tablet.  _I know all of this,_  she grumped silently.  _Where's the new stuff for the test?_

The fourteen-year-old girl brushed her bangs aside, brown locks of hair dyed red at the tips much in the style of her mother. She let out another sigh as she realized it'd been six months now since she'd seen either of her parents, both gone on long deployments with the Davion military. Her stepmom, Raven, and her Uncle Qrow were off-planet as well, though the former actually did work for the Capellan Confederation and the latter, well… kinda worked for whoever was paying well.

Her perusal stopped at a date further along in the history timeline.

" _Political corruption and instability, as well as the economic strain of supporting its colonies, eroded support for the Terran Alliance, and in 2314 it descended into civil war. The Alliance Global Militia under the direction of Navy Admiral James McKenna imposed an end to the conflict in 2315, dissolved the Parliament, and established in its place the Terran Hegemony, with McKenna elected as its first Director-General the following year. During McKenna's 23-year tenure, the Hegemony sought to reassert its authority over the outer colonies. Though achieving_ _some early successes, the effort was ultimately a failure and galvanized resistance to the Hegemony. McKenna's successor, cousin Michael Cameron, concentrated on establishing more peaceful international relations."_

The brunette girl nodded thoughtfully.  _Right, and from there formed the Great Houses, and then the Star League in… what was it…?_

"Problems, Miss Rose?"

She let out a small  _squeak_  of noise at the comment coming from just over her shoulder. "O-oh, no ma'am, Miss Peach, I mean…" She glanced back at the passage she was reading. "Um… Did we get up to the formation of the Star League yet?"

"We did indeed, Miss Rose," the teacher commented wryly, strolling back towards the head of the classroom. "I know you've been out sick for a couple days, but even so, we'd covered well through the events of 2571."

 _Right, 2571, that's when the Star League formed… Oh, shoot!_  She frowned to herself, ignoring the snickers from her classmates.  _I missed the section about the introduction of Battlemechs!_

She flipped forward, skimming over the excessive use of military powers on worlds such as the Capellan planet Tintavel in 2412 and the near-annihilation of the populace there. The subsequent Ares Convention and its adoption by all major nations got her closer to her goal.

" _The conventions imposed strict prohibitions on how and where war could be waged and what constituted legitimate targets, discouraged orbital bombardment, and also outlawed the use of most nuclear and biological weapons. However, though intended to limit civilian casualties and prevent atrocities like those on Tintavel, the conventions also inadvertently institutionalized war as a means of settling disputes and ushered in an era of near-constant warfare."_

Her actions slowed as she narrowed in on her goal, silver eyes lighting up with glee as she found what she was looking for.

" _Emerging from the new military restrictions set by the Ares Conventions, large robotic war machines known as Battlemechs were developed by the Terran Hegemony in 2439 and first used in combat against the Draconis Combine in 2443. Both powerful and intimidating, Battlemechs drew attention away from space combat and onto the ground, and remained the most high-profile military units throughout all subsequent history of warfare. The design secrets of the Battlemech were stolen during a raid by Lyran Commonwealth commandos on a Terran 'Mech factory and subsequently spread by trade and conquest to all the other Great Houses."_

Ruby blinked her eyes.  _That's it?_  Granted, she'd made a hobby about learning all she could about the humanoid-shaped armored combat vehicles, typically standing eight to fourteen meters tall and weighing anywhere from twenty to one hundred tons. They were the prevalent military force on any battlefield today… and her entire family was made up of Mechwarriors.

One day, she would follow in her parent's footsteps, just as her big sister Yang was training to do.

 _Oh, well,_  she shrugged unconcernedly.  _Suppose I should catch up on the rest so I can move on to that Chemistry homework…_  Her eyes darted back and forth as the scrolling continued. She paused as she came to a crucial turning point in the history of humanity among the stars.

" _In the mid 28th century the current First Lord of the Star League died suddenly and tragically in an accident. Richard Cameron, then still a boy and unready to rule, was thrust onto the throne. Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky was appointed as regent of the Star League. The Star League Council, composed of the five Great House Lords_ _, saw themselves as the true rulers of the Star League. Upon reaching maturity, the son of the deceased First Lord sent out edicts limiting the house armies, while also placing higher taxes on the Periphery states. This started the Border War, occupying much of the League forces with quelling civil unrest. Taking advantage of this unrest, Stefan Amaris (the leader of the Rim Worlds Republic) first became a personal friend of the First Lord, then killed all of the Cameron family - even the First Lord himself - and claimed the title. This was truly the beginning of the end for the Star League. The Amaris Coup touched off thirteen years of fighting as the Star League Defense Force fought its way from the Periphery to Terra. General Alexander Kerensky's effort to remove the usurper claimed nearly three-quarters of the SLDF. Still suffering from recent battles and unable to hold back the Houses and the coming darkness, Kerensky began an exile of all willing troops to leave known space, thus leaving the way open for the Succession Wars."_

Ruby leaned back from her desk, her gaze drifting up to rest on the wall-mounted large square map that depicted the nations of the Inner Sphere, arrayed like spokes on a wheel around the central point of Terra. Five uneven wedges were highlighted in different colors.

The Free Worlds League, ruled by House Marik.

The Federated Suns, ruled by House Davion.

The Draconis Combine, ruled by House Kurita.

The Lyran Commonwealth, ruled by House Steiner.

The Capellan Confederation, ruled by House Liao.

There had been three Succession Wars now, interstellar conflicts involving hundreds to thousands of Battlemechs at a time, creating a swath of destruction that, even with the tenants of the Ares Convention, threatened to destroy much of the technology gained during the past few centuries. Some knowledge was already rated LosTech, such as the ability to create more Jumpships to travel between stars, as well as quite a bit of Battlemech and medical technology that was unable to be replicated.

Since the current Third war started winding down, though, there had been mostly smaller border conflicts, at least in this region. Her own planet, Remnant, had once belonged to Liao but had changed hands to Davion as it bordered the two nations. They had been a Federated Suns planet for her entire lifetime now, and everyone agreed that life was better under Davion rule.

At least they left them alone for the most part.

Ruby drummed her fingers lightly on the desktop as her attention once again was drawn to her tablet. The large-scale battles of the first two wars, and the early years of the third, were a thing of the past with the armies of the Great Houses so depleted. Planetary invasions still happened, but on a company or battalion scale, rather than with regiments. Still, never-ending war was just a fact of life for everyone, the current conflict having lasted about a hundred and fifty years now.

Before she could continue, the building shook slightly with the windows giving a harsh rattle. Everyone's eyes shot over to peer outside, though nothing could be seen.

"Wait, what are those?" a boy sitting next to a window questioned, pointing up at the sky.

By that point, everyone was out of their seats and rushing first to the window, and then out the door to join the rest of Signal Academy's population to gaze, open-mouthed, upwards.

Numerous trails arced across the dark sky, leading with a burning ball of flame.

Ruby looked around wildly, finally finding the blonde mane of her older sister. She hurried over to pull at Yang's arm. "What's going on?" she asked worriedly.

The sixteen-year-old, currently enrolled in the Mechwarrior training program, glanced aside grimly before her lilac eyes went back to staring across the town rather than the sky. "Ain't it obvious, Rubbles? We're being invaded. The Capellan Confederation finally got to our doorstep."

"Oh," she breathed in reply, directing her gaze toward where Yang was looking. Off in the distance, several Battlemechs were striding towards where the nearest dropships were making their landings after their fiery breakthrough of the atmosphere. "Um… are we gonna fight back?"

"With what?" Yang barked out a bitter laugh. "Davion doesn't allow us a militia, and their regulars are off defendin' some other world. We gots nothing to fight back with but unarmed training 'Mechs."

"But… then…"

Yang nodded towards the backs of the 'Mechs. "School professors. Old warriors goin' off to die." The blonde sighed, running a hand through her long tresses. "Well, I s'pose instead of piloting 'Mechs for Davion, we'll get to pilot for Liao."

"Yeah… I suppose…" She frowned at the thought. "What about mom and dad? They're with Davion still…"

"Yeah, they are…" Yang grinned, her earlier dismal mood vanished as if it'd never been there. "Don't you worry none, sis, I'm not goin' anywhere until you can get yourself in Mechwarrior school too, and old enough to take care of yourself. Alright?"

"Alright, Yang," the brunette replied, accepting the side-arm hug and wrapping her own arm around her older sibling.

Still, she couldn't help but worry.

_Everything's gonna change, now…_

* * *

Year: 3025  
Planet: Teng  
Capellan Confederation

Five Years Later

Ruby leaned forward in her seat with an eager grin on her face. Underneath her, the 20-ton Locust responded to her actions, leaning forward as well as it accelerated to its considerable top speed.

Her Battlemech, though one of the lightest, was easily the fastest 'Mech in existence to the best of her knowledge. The trade-off for this speed was, of course, very little armor and minimal weaponry. Still, her medium-strength laser and paired antipersonnel machine guns were comparable to other light 'Mechs of the same weight class, such as the Stinger or Wasp. The biggest difference being the lack of jump jets, harnessing the power of a 'Mech's fusion engine to superheat air or another suitable fluid to briefly overcome gravity and rocket short distances over the battlefield. It made the other Battlemechs maneuverable, to be sure.

But she'd take flat-out speed any day.

Her bird-like 'Mech kicked up dust behind as she raced across the dry gully to reach her assigned area to scout. Locusts were one of the few 'Mechs not to keep a humanoid appearance, lacking any arms save for stubby little wings on either side which housed the machine gun arrays. Its legs were spindly and canted backward like a bird, giving it an odd gait that many Mechwarriors disliked.

 _They just don't know how to appreciate my baby,_  she giggled to herself. She'd named the Locust  _Crescent Rose_  in the tradition that most Mechwarriors followed, though she wasn't permitted by regulation within the Liao Regulars to stencil the name on the outside. Instead, her Battlemech was adorned with a flat, dismal-looking green that reminded her of swamp water from back home.

Her comm unit crackled to life suddenly. "Ruby, you out there?"

The brunette's grin widened at the sound of her best friend within her company, a fellow Remnanter conscript that she spent a lot of time with over the past year. Within the confines of her neurohelmet, a special device that translated her movements and sense of balance to the Battlemech's computer, she flexed her jaw to open the channel. "'Course I am, Sun, just out for a stroll."

"Uh-huh, a stroll at a hundred and thirty klicks per hour, right?"

"Well, sure, my baby needed to stretch her legs," she giggled in return.

Sun's answering laughter barely carried over the static. The ridges around this area of Teng played havoc with communications due to the oddly metallic content of the soil here. "Yeah, well, I'll take slow and steady with more than paper for armor and bigger than a peashooter for a gun."

"And I can still run circles around your tin can," she snorted. Sun's fifty-ton Centurion, a common enough medium-class 'Mech in the Capellan Confederation, certainly had respectable armor, not to mention a heavy autocannon, a rack of long-range missiles, and a pair of lasers equivalent to her own single one. Still, he could barely outpace much heavier 'Mechs, his top speed less than half of hers.

"Speed-freak."

"Slow-poke."

"Yeah, yeah… Look, we're moving out now, got a report of another lance in sector thirty-two we're gonna go bash on."

"Thirty-two?" She glanced at the display on her HUD. "Oh, that's right next to mine. Lemme know if you need help. I can be there, y'know, in a flash."

"I'm sure you can," Sun chuckled. "Well, one way or another, you coming by for a movie tonight?"

"You know it, I'd never turn down a terrible action flick with overcooked popcorn at the House of Wukong."

Sun barked out a hearty laugh. "Roger that, Red. Watch yourself out there."

"Pfft, like I got anything to worry about," the brunette snorted. "They'd have to catch me, first. You watch your own ass, Wukong."

"'Later."

With that, the connection was cut and Ruby could return her full attention to her surroundings. Granted, nothing had changed really, and her Garrett sensor system would have alerted her to anything unusual, but she liked to stay alert, all the same.

Speaking of which…

She flexed her jaw twice, opening the comm channel to her lance. "This is Rose, I have a possible reading close by here in sector thirty."

"A possible reading?" the query came back. "Go make sure, we're approaching your position."

"Roger that." Her lance leader, Warrant Officer Briggs, was a decent enough leader, if uninspired. He wasn't quite sure what to make of Ruby, she believed, but pretty much just let her run around as she liked. Which, honestly, suited her just fine.

She leaned into a turn, scaling the sides of the ridge to poke her head over towards where the reading seemed to come from.

And came face-to-face with an enemy Battlemech.

"Yikes!" she yelped, quickly backpedaling and avoiding the reflexive barrage of missile fire that soared over her head.

She turned and raced off in an oblique direction, looping back around to come up on the flank of her opponent.  _Right, so he's a Commando, five tons heavier but a lot slower… still, all those missiles will chew me to shreds if he gets me sensor-locked._  She gulped involuntarily at the thought of a full spread of ten short-ranged missiles, twice as heavy and twice as powerful as their longer-ranged counterparts, smashing into her baby.  _Not gonna happen, his armor is not much better than mine, I just gotta surprise him_.

Sure enough, as she crested the ridge, her opponent was badly out of position, working on scaling the reverse side of the protrusion near where she'd been. She was facing his side, and he was hardly expecting her to pop up again so soon and so far away.

Fortunately, the other Battlemech that she'd missed was just as surprised, even though he was directly in front of her.

"Well, son of a shitbiscuit," she grunted, lurching to the side and spinning around. The second light 'Mech, at thirty-five tons, was a Jenner. It was another bird-like design but carried a respectable rack of four short-range missiles and another four medium lasers. The SRMs were mounted just below the protruding cockpit while the lasers were housed in the stubby arms.

As she danced around the Jenner, throwing that pilot into even more of a disarray, she began to pepper the side and rear of the Commando with accurate and deadly laser fire. After three hits, the left rear armor was penetrated, setting off an internal explosion of ammunition.

"Ha, gotcha," she crowed, noting the top of the 'Mech popping off as the Mechwarrior ejected from his crippled vehicle. The explosions soon consumed the entire Battlemech, its left arm flying off to the side.

Her other opponent was starting to react, twisting about to track the elusive lighter 'Mech. But Ruby wasn't about to allow them a clear shot. She quickly reversed direction, bumping into the Jenner and sending it stumbling off-balance before sending a laser blast into its side. The pilot was fairly quick to counter, though, and turned again, shooting off a salvo of SRMs that Ruby was just barely able to skip out of the way of.

'Mechs with canted legs like the Locust and Jenner suffered from a certain vulnerability, one Ruby was always careful to protect herself from with her innate agility. She was not above exploiting said vulnerability when it came to those she faced on the battlefield, though.

With a quick series of sidesteps, the brunette Mechwarrior closed in on the Jenner, lifting a foot up before smashing it down on the other 'Mech's ankle. The mechanism was crushed, severely limiting its ability to keep up with the more maneuverable Locust.

It didn't take much longer for her to strip away the rear armor of the heavier 'Mech and permanently disable it. Both torsos were demolished, severing the arms as well, before she was able to finish what she started on the one leg with several accurate laser shots.

The top hatch of the Jenner popped open and her opponent emerged, looking haggard and shaken. She turned her 'Mech around and raced back down into the gully towards where her lance should have been approaching.

Some Mechwarriors were of the opinion that the only good enemy was a dead one. She'd never ascribed to that policy, caring little for killing. If her opponent ejected or otherwise escaped, she'd be more than happy to let them go.

Ruby drove a Battlemech to fight other 'Mechs, not already-defeated pilots.

"Rose here, encountered a pair of enemy 'Mechs, took care of them. Briggs, you run into anyone yet?"

Only static answered her hail.

She frowned as her Locust accelerated. "Briggs, you copy?"

After a handful of kilometers, she could see the rising tendrils of smoke ahead.

"Aw, dammitall," she groaned.

Sure enough, around the next bend, the brunette came across the scattered remains of her lance. The pair of Wasps were nothing but scrap metal, though the Warrant Officer's 45-ton Phoenix Hawk looked like it had been giving as good as it got. At least, until what appeared to be an autocannon hit to the head, decapitating the 'Mech.

Ruby let out a huff of air, resolving not to mourn her comrades until she was out of trouble herself. Three flexes of her jaw opened a new channel to headquarters. "Control, this is Mechwarrior Rose, Third Lance, Charlie Company, Second Battalion. Do you copy?"

Again, a static hiss was her only answer.

"Shit… fucking shit on a bun…" Her eyes tracked the area around the carnage, noting the tracks of numerous 'Mechs, easily a pair of lances. Of the enemy, there were a few severed arms littered about as well as the burnt-out husk of a 35-ton Firestarter, a deadly 'Mech that could quickly build an opponent's heat to critical levels, but otherwise, the enemy seemed to have made it past their line operational and still a danger.

"This is a lot more of the enemy than there's supposed to be here," she muttered, turning to face the direction of the base she was housed at. She paused, however, as a cold, sinking feeling began to claw at her gut. "Sun…" she breathed anxiously.

Spinning back towards where she'd come from, she took off at her top speed once more. After a few flicks of switches on her console, she flexed her jaw to open her personal channel again.

"Wukong, you copy?" she asked urgently.

The brunette woman was really, really starting to get tired of only hearing static on her comm.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit… c'mon you big monkey answer me! Wukong, do you copy?" She grit her teeth as she took a turn in the gulley at a rather inadvisable speed, though she managed to retain her 'Mech's footing. "Sun! Sun, you asshole, answer me! Sun!"

Once she was out of the gulley her HUD informed her she was now crossing over into sector thirty-two. As her eyes scanned the horizon, her heart sank into her boots.

More pyres of smoke lay just ahead.

"No… no no no…"

Her Battlemech skidded to a halt just outside a scene much like the last. There were more metallic carcasses lying about, some recognizable, many not. Her silver eyes darted around, scanning for metal in the same shade of puke-green as her 'Mech until they rested on a recognizable pair of Battlemech legs standing upright.

Nothing else was left of Sun's Centurion, just the two legs, sticking up like a pair of graveyard monuments.

She wasn't sure how long she remained there, motionless, before her comm finally crackled to life.

"All Liao units, fall back. All positions untenable, we are evacuating the planet. Make your way to the closest dropship as indicated on your tactical map. Liao units, report in with your status."

Ruby sniffled and rubbed at her tear-filled eyes beneath the neurohelmet visor before opening a channel in reply. "This…" She cleared her throat. "This is Mechwarrior Rose, Third Lance, Charlie Company, Second Battalion. Rest of lance is gone. I'm… heading for the dropship at sector twenty-eight."

"Roger that, Mechwarrior Rose. You'd better hurry if you want to make your ride off of this planet."

"Affirmative."

She closed the channel and raced forward, dust churning up beneath  _Crescent Rose_  as she raced towards her destination.

_Oh, I'll make it, alright… With time to spare. Just get me the hell off of this forsaken rock._

Unabated tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Ohhh my goodness, this has been a very long while coming. Like, in planning for almost two years now. I've wanted to write something with RWBY in Battlemechs for the longest time. Surprisingly, it's not a common crossover. I mean, 4 'Mechs to a lance, 4 hunters in a team… Perfect fit, right?
> 
> I've played the Battletech tabletop game since it's inception by FAFSA, as well as Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries by Mektek (gods, that was a fun game). And then Harebrained Schemes put out Battletech this past April. I finally picked it up… and I'm hooked. I can so easily fit the girls of RWBY into this, and it's made my desire to write this story even greater.
> 
> So, what's in store for you dear readers? Well, I have a full synopsis and outline done out to 50 chapters, so we'll at least get that much. After that depends some on the reception and where I want to take it from there. I'm going to try and keep to a weekly posting as I have a bit of a buffer already built up. Hopefully, I can stick to it.
> 
> Currently, we have a kickass story image over on FF.net courtesy of my ever-fabulous Beta, **Silvana_Crowe** , as well as some more images to be revealed at a later date. We also have the talents of **KellyConnely** along as another Beta for this endeavor.
> 
> Will we see some more glorious 'Mech-on-'Mech battle action? Oh, hell yes. Will we see character development? That's the plan. Will we see romance? I mean, come on, it's me, ships will abound. Including some new ones I haven't seen before. Even some actual hetero pairings (gasp!). Hang on tight to your neurohelmets, folks, it's gonna be one helluva ride.
> 
> I'm going to try and give a lot of background for novices to the Battletech universe and fans alike. (Credit for the history lessons in the first half of this chapter go to the [Battletech wiki](http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page).) Just so you know, this is going to be set just on the cusp of the Fourth Succession War (which began in 3028). So no Clans, sorry. Um, what else… Oh, here's a rule of thumb that might be helpful for the newbies. There are four Battlemechs in a lance, three lances to a company, three companies to a battalion, and three battalions to a regiment.
> 
> Last thing (because holy shitbiscuits this author's note is long) - there are entirely too many characters in this story to be assigning them callsigns, nobody will remember them. 'Mechs will be named, and that's it, sorry.
> 
> For longtime readers, I haven't given up on Blood of the Rose any, I've just hit a little bit of a block in motivation. I'm hoping that this will get me moving once more, I'd really like to return to writing that story again as well… Whelp, till next time!
> 
> Stay shiny!


	2. Chapter 2

Dropship  _Harmony_  
En Route to Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

Ruby let out a relieved huff of air as she exited her assigned bunk space. Available bedding on a standard Union-class dropship, capable of carrying an entire company of twelve Battlemechs, as well as a pair of Aerospace fighters and accompanying Mechtechs and ground troops, was rather limited. Mechwarriors and their techs got what was considered premium space aside from the officers, eight to a room crammed into four racks of two beds apiece, a pair on each side. There was barely enough room to stand in the middle, much less for two people to pass one another, so most personnel spent as little time as possible in their bunks, preferring the 'Mech bay or various, equally-cramped lounges.

Which suited Ruby just fine as it gave her more time to spend on fixing her baby up.  _Crescent Rose_  had accumulated a significant amount of debris and dust on her race towards the dropship, and she was ready to get her sweetheart back to her usual pretty self.

"Well, I'll be damned, I thought I saw your 'Mech in the bay."

The brunette let out a delighted laugh as she spun around. The familiar husky voice belonged to an ebony-skinned, silver-haired woman in dark grey Mechtech overalls and standing with her hands on her hips, a pleased smile of her own on her face.

"Arslan! I'm so glad you made it off of Teng!"

As she tackled the older woman, the Mechtech also laughed, wrapping her up in a warm hug. "We were fortunate, they swung by with a transport before we even got word of the evacuation."

Ruby pulled back at a sudden thought. "But you were born on Teng, don't you have family on there?"

"Not so much that will miss me," Arslan shrugged easily. "Besides, who'll fix your little bird up if I'm not around?"

"Hey, now," she squawked in mock offense. "I'll have you know, I'm a pretty decent tech myself!"

"Uh-huh. And the last time I let you and Wukong into my space, it took me a solid week to put things back in order."

"Yeah." Ruby face fell a little bit. "Good times, huh?"

"Oh, hun…" Arslan regarded the Mechwarrior sadly. "He didn't make it?"

She just shook her head, turning so that the both of them could continue their walk towards the 'Mech bays.

"Well, if you wanna talk, you know I'm here for you, yeah?"

"Yeah, I know… Thanks, Arslan."

"Anytime, Ruby."

The pair paused at the threshold of the enormous bay. Scaffolding and rigging held up Battlemechs in various states of disrepair, some missing limbs, others missing great hunks of armor. Ruby was surprised to see a mix of light, medium, and heavy 'Mechs.

"So… is this the new company, now, or are they gonna reorganize things once we get on the ground?"

"Not sure," Arslan hummed thoughtfully. "Scuttlebutt is, there are two other dropships accompanying us from Teng that also latched onto the jumpship. So, perhaps they'll organize a new battalion, pulling together 'Mechs as they need."

"Yeah, that makes sense…"

Ruby trailed off as the overhead intercom blared to life.

"Mechwarrior Rose, please report to Captain Li Han immediately."

It repeated once more as Ruby turned her worried silver eyes to her friend and personal Mechtech. "Sure hope I'm not in trouble."

"I don't think you've been on the dropship long enough for that," Arslan snickered in reply.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!"

" _Suuure_  you aren't…"

After a few more traded jibes, the brunette hurried back up the corridor to the residential area. She knew where the officers' quarters were, similarly cramped but at least with only one bed per bunk room. Ruby passed a few doors before she came to the one correctly labeled. She rapped firmly on the door, pulling herself to attention.

"Enter."

As she did so, closing the door behind her and snapping off a salute, her eyes quickly scanned the small room's occupant. Li Han was a slender man with a probing look to his almond-shaped dark eyes. He had cropped black hair and golden skin, altogether unremarkable-looking for a typical Capellan officer.

"Mechwarrior Rose, reporting as ordered, sir."

"Very good, Rose, have a seat, please."

She perched on the edge of the smartly-made bed as instructed, careful not to disturb the sheets. Li Han sat at the small metal chair by the laughably tiny desk, tapping his fingers idly on a tablet there as he looked her over.

"So, Rose… I've inspected your records, as well as the combat footage of the action on Teng."

"O-Oh, sir?" she stammered anxiously, wondering if she'd be reprimanded for going towards Sun's last known location rather than her base.

"Indeed. Most remarkable, you are a highly skilled pilot."

"Oh! Er, thank you, sir!"

The Captain nodded slowly as he glanced at the tablet before regarding her once more. "In fact, your overall service record over the past year has been nothing short of astounding. Zero ejections and twenty-four 'Mech kills."

Ruby nodded with a nervous smile. She'd never really been one to take lavish compliments easily.

"So tell me…" He leaned forward slightly, the corners of his mouth ticking up. "What's your secret? Natural talent?"

"Well… yes, sir, exactly. I'm a Remnanter."

"Hmm." He sat back once again, regarding her pensively. "Before we discuss your future, please tell me more about those who come from your homeworld. It would seem that within this collection of survivors from Teng, as well as on Tallin, where we are bound for, we have a rather disproportionate number of… Remnanter conscripts." He did smile then, and though it was slight it gave Ruby some encouragement. "I'd like to understand better you and your people."

"Oh, sure thing, sir. Um, lemme see…" She frowned as she chewed on her bottom lip, deep in thought as to where to begin. "Well, those of us from Remnant, we originally were two separate races, you see. Humans, or at least, Human-looking, and then the Faunus."

"And those would be the individuals exhibiting certain… animalistic characteristics?" he interjected softly.

"Right, exactly. The Faunus of history were all better at, well, most stuff, more agile and could hear better, usually stronger, maybe even smarter, I dunno. Anyways, over the centuries I suppose the Faunus gene was dominant enough that, well, we all got a little bit of it." Ruby spread her hands in a slight shrug. "So we all got the same genes now, just, some of us have more obvious, y'know… extra appendages and stuff. But on average… we've got faster reflexes and better agility than anyone else not from Remnant."

"Hmm." Li Han tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Natural Mechwarriors, in other words."

"Yeah, pretty much. We always managed to run into trouble, though, outside of our world, 'cause of, well…" Ruby smiled disarmingly. "Most folks get weirded out by a pair of wolf ears on top of a guy's head."

"You… face some discrimination outside of your planet, then?"

"Usually, yeah, even if we don't have any exterior features since we tend to stick together."

"I see. Well." The Capellan Captain crossed a leg at the ankle, nodding thoughtfully. "I've not heard of any special accommodations made for Remnanters, but I'd like to do so. In fact, getting back to the company organization…" Li Han regarded Ruby levelly. "I'd like to put you in charge of a lance and promote you to Warrant Officer."

"Me, sir?" Ruby squeaked. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Third Lance, Bravo Company, within the newly formed Third Battalion of the 41st Capellan Regulars, also known as the Avenging Falcons." He shrugged at the brunette's raised eyebrows. "I didn't pick the battalion name, that honor rests with Major Fukima."

"Right, okay… Um, well, I'm honored, sir, and I accept." Ruby drew herself up. "I won't let you down."

"I don't expect you will. I'll officially register Third Lance as Rose Lance. Now then, as to your lancemates…" He pulled his tablet off of the table, swiping at the screen. "I have two slots filled, one is another Remnanter like yourself and another is from the Lyran Commonwealth."

"Really?" Ruby's interest was piqued on both accounts but by far the latter one rose to the top. "What is a Steiner Mechwarrior doing fighting with the Capellan Confederation?"

"I'm not entirely sure of her reasoning, but she emigrated to Liao space as a fully-trained Mechwarrior. We're not ones to pass up an opportunity… after the appropriate checks were done into her past, of course." Li Han grimaced slightly. "I do not have access to the records of the Maskirovka investigation."

Ruby nodded, hiding her own grimace. The Capellan Confederation was, at its core, a police state. The population was tightly controlled, but people took inordinate pride in citizenship that could only be earned, not inherited. And the intelligence arm of the government was known as the Maskirovka, easily the most feared intelligence apparatus in the Inner Sphere. This fear was, of course, one of its greatest weapons and helped prevent many attacks from both outside the Confederation and from within it.

One worked quite diligently to escape the notice of the Maskirovka.

"That does leave one opening, though I do have some candidates to consider… I intend for your lance to be advance recon, operating rather independently, as I believe you would seem to prefer."

"That… sounds great, sir." She smiled at her Captain. "Um, by any chance, do you know if my sister is assigned to Tallin? I think she was, last time I heard… I'd really like for her to fill the last slot, if I may."

"Well, I can certainly look her up. What is her name?"

"Yang Xiao-Long, sir."

As he tapped the query into his tablet, she was quick to answer the curious quirk of his eyebrow.

"We're half-sisters," she explained quickly. "Same dad, different moms, though she pretty much considers my mom her own as well. Her mom hasn't been around much."

"Very well… Ah, I see, she is indeed on Tallin. And… apparently a bit of a troublemaker. I don't think I'll have much resistance from her current company commander to take her off of his hands." He glanced up at Ruby once more. "Someone this volatile and insubordinate… Will you be able to handle her?"

"Yessir," she reported decisively.

"Alright, then, Warrant Office Rose… You have your lance."

* * *

Gamma Base  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

It was the dead of the night by the time Ruby had gotten her 'Mech disembarked from the dropship and cocooned in her new Mechbay. She also made sure that Arslan was situated before making her way towards where her bunkroom now was, shared with the other members of her new lance who were, if the boisterous noise coming from the doorway ahead was any indicator, already present.

"Rubbles!"

The brunette laughed as she was swept off of her feet by an enthusiastic blonde. "Hey, Yang," she chuckled breathlessly, returning the hug. "Long time, no see."

"Seriously, it's been, what, over a year?" Yang set her little sister down on the floor, regarding her fondly. "Lookit you now, did you grow a couple of inches on me?"

"I did, yeah. Few other changes, too."

"Few other…" Lilac eyes grew wide as Ruby pointed to her new epaulets. "Holy shitballs,  _you're_  our new Warrant Officer?"

"Yep, that's me. So, then…" Ruby looked across the room at the other pair of women sitting unobtrusively on their bunk beds. The two sets of beds were placed across from each other, leaving quite a bit more space than on the  _Harmony_. In fact, even with the addition of a table and chairs at the end of the room, it was positively spacious.

She nodded to the raven-haired woman first, noting the matching feline ears that flicked atop her head. "You would be Mechwarrior Belladonna, then?"

"That's right," she responded in a quiet but husky monotone.

"Yeah, me an' Blake actually went to school together," Yang interjected breezily as she plopped onto a chair, stretching her legs out before her. "Weren't best of friends or anything, but we ran in the same circles."

"Good to hear." Ruby gave the Cat Faunus a warm smile, which she timidly returned. The brunette then switched her gaze over to the last woman in the room. "And then you would be Mechwarrior Schnee, from the Lyran Commonwealth."

"Correct," the platinum-haired woman replied curtly and with the barest of nods.

 _Okaaayyy…_  Smile unabating, Ruby gazed about the room. "Alright, then… As you probably already figured out, I'm Ruby Rose, Warrant Officer. Yang, Blake, and Weiss... We're a lance, the Captain has designated us as advance recon. As I understand it, Weiss and Blake, you've each been assigned Stingers, and Yang, a Wasp?"

"You betcha!"

"Mmm."

Weiss merely nodded once more, her face tight and unreadable.

 _Oh, this is gonna be rough going._  "Right, let's get some rack time, I wanna hit the simulators first thing in the morning after breakfast, see how we all work together. Already checked to make sure we each have our 'Mech assigned to us in the program. Weiss, a moment?"

While the other two prepared for bed, Yang chatting excitedly about her last mission which ended up with her 30-ton Hermes Battlemech being scrapped for parts, Weiss followed the brunette Mechwarrior out into the hallway.

"So, look," Ruby began hesitantly. "I know this probably seems kinda… intimidating… being on a lance with three other members, all from the same planet… But I know how it feels, okay? Being so far from home, without anyone to depend on…" She peered closely at the other woman, her silver eyes shining with earnestness. "I don't want you to feel isolated. You're part of us now, we're a team. So if you're ever feeling left out, come talk to me, please?"

Weiss stared back, her impassivity seemingly cracking slightly as she gave another nod. Pale pools of icy blue softened infinitesimally. "Very well, thank you… Ruby."

She gave the platinum-haired woman a brilliant smile which was returned on a much smaller scale before her lancemate departed back into the room. Ruby let out a sigh, slumping against the wall and running a hand through her red-tipped brown tresses.

"Ok, then…" she murmured, standing back up and following Weiss.

As she lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling from her bunk above Weiss, thoughts and fears and anxiety-ridden doubts whirled through her head like a maelstrom.

Even though she was the youngest member of the lance, she was determined not to let that be a factor. They could pull this off, become a tightly-knit unit, the envy of the rest of the company. Maybe. With luck. And a whole lot of work.

Whatever may happen, she was still as resolute as ever to make her parents proud, wherever they now were.

Of course, that resurfaced a whole new thread of old fears, ones that had plagued her ever since being conscripted into the Capellan Regulars.

_Please… by all the old gods of Remnant, please don't make me face them in battle… It's a big universe, right? Right._

Still, sleep was a long time coming for the young Mechwarrior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Hey, we got Team RWBY together already! Rough going, to be sure, but at least Weiss' first impression of Ruby wasn't her blowing herself up. We also got some background on how I've fit Remnant into the geography of the Inner Sphere.
> 
> So, next chapter, let's see just how cohesive a unit the new lance is…
> 
> Stay shiny!


	3. Chapter 3

Gamma Base  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

"So, explain this to me," Yang began laughingly.

"What's that?" Ruby distractedly replied. They were on their way back from their first simulator run. It had been… well, just as rough as she had expected. Still, there was plenty of promise there.

"This base here, of all the things to be built next to, we're guarding…" Yang gestured grandly out of the windows that lined the hallway towards the 'Mech bays. "A  _paint factory?_ "

"This is the planetary defense grid central command," Weiss interjected loftily as if pleased to be able to flaunt her knowledge. "Of course they're trying to remain inconspicuous."

"Right," Blake quietly scoffed. "Like putting a major base next to a paint factory isn't suspicious at all."

The platinum-haired lancemate merely sniffed and refused to dignify that with a response.

"It's not the greatest of camouflage, yeah," Ruby opined. "But it's the best they could do to keep a low profile. As I understand it, they were gonna put it in the capital city, but that would have exposed too many civilians to orbital bombardment."

"Oh, well, that's reassuring," Yang chuckled nervously, running a hand through her long tresses. Interestingly, Ruby was the only one of the four women to keep her red-tipped hair relatively short, just down past her ears. Many Mechwarriors preferred as little hair as possible, some even shaving it off entirely so as to maintain a better contact with the sensors inside the neurohelmet. It wasn't entirely necessary, nor was there any proof that it gave them any sort of a significant advantage, but their profession was nothing if not filled with superstition and obscure traditions.

Still, it was odd to observe the trio of women, Yang with her flowing locks of golden hair, Blake with a thick mane of hair the color of midnight, and Weiss with a long, thin ponytail held off-center by a simple white hair tie. They all sported the same drab-green overalls that unfortunately matched their 'Mech paint color.

Soon enough, they were in the bay, and Ruby paused to look around searchingly. Before long she spotted the familiar tousled silver head of her Mechtech and excitedly led the others over.

"Hey, Arslan! This is my lance!"

Ruby passed along introductions, the older mechanic giving them each a warm smile and a nod before turning towards the other three individuals standing nearby.

"So we're lucky enough that we got us a full team to take care of your rides," she began with a chuckle. "This here is Bolan Hori, Reese Chloris, and Nadir Shiko, all natives of Tallin."

"Great to meet you all!" Ruby declared happily, giving each of the techs a firm handshake. The Mechtechs looked surprised at their treatment by a Mechwarrior, but no less than her own teammates seemed to be.

She signed internally. Historically, Mechwarriors kept aloft from others, considering themselves to be the elite and above mingling with the masses such as techs and other lowly support staff. Ruby had never ascribed to such nonsense, hence her close relationship with her own tech, Arslan. It helped that she liked to tinker and do her own repairs on  _Crescent Rose_ , earning a friendship that she considered to be quite cherished.

"Right, well, we're happy to have you guys aboard. Make sure you follow Arslan's lead and you'll be an expert-rated Mechtech in no time!"

"Oh stop, you," the older woman laughed, giving Ruby a swat on her arm.

Bolin was a serious-looking man, tousled dark hair and Capellan features, while Nadir could have been almost a copy were it not for much darker skin and a shock of pink hair atop his head, bordered by close-shorn darker hair on the sides. The last member of the group, Reese, had a cheerful, round face with feathery green hair and grease stains on her cheeks. All four Mechtechs wore the typical dark grey overalls of their profession, though Reese had hers unzipped to the waist and the arms tied around in front, exposing her dark purple tank top.

"You're… not like most Mechwarriors we've come across," Bolin stated carefully.

"Nope!" Ruby cheerfully replied.

Arslan shook her head with a smile. "No, Ruby's always been one-of-a-kind. Could tell that the first time I met her, wet behind the ears and on her first deployment."

"Oh, now  _you're_  bein' all flattery and stuff," the younger woman grinned bashfully. "Well, we're off to grab some lunch before we hit the simulators again. I figure maybe tomorrow or the day after we'd take our 'Mechs out for a spin, that okay with you guys?"

"Uh, I mean, whenever you want them, we'll have them ready!" Reese reported with an easy smile.

"Awesome! I'll let you know, then. Cheers, everyone!"

The four Mechwarriors made their way back down the corridor, absorbed by their thoughts until Ruby spoke up again.

"I think it's real important to connect with your techs," she started with quiet earnestness. "I know it's… not the way things are usually done in the Regulars, they have this whole caste system and all, but us? We're all outsiders, right? So there's no reason to participate in that."

"You make a lot of sense," Blake spoke up in a murmur. "I've not been all that technically proficient, at least hands-on, but I do know the theoretical basics…"

"Me, I love gettin' my hands dirty," Yang grinned. "Last deployment, though, I kept gettin' chased off by either the Chief Mechtech or my own CO. Guess that was more of that caste bullshit, huh?"

"Most likely, yeah." Ruby's silver eyes darted to the side where the fourth member of their lance wore a pensive expression. "Weiss, what do you think?"

"I think… that this is quite a bit to absorb," she explained carefully. "Where I grew up… It was a bit like the caste system here, more stratified by class and upbringing than status or profession, but still…"

"Damn, Weiss, that's the most words I heard you string together yet!" Yang chuckled.

Of course, with that, Weiss' lips clamped shut once more.

 _Dammit, Yang…_  Ruby shot her sister a warning glare, but it was blithely ignored. She was seriously considering taking the muscled blonde aside when she heard her name shouted. Her gaze was drawn to the side of the cavernous cafeteria towards where a woman with a short bob of orange hair and dressed in the light grey overalls of support staff was waving ecstatically.

"Neon!" she called back happily, racing forward after sending her lancemates off to get their lunches. The two girls collided together with excited giggles.

"Oh, wow, it's been years!" the shorter woman laughed, her orange feline tail swishing back and forth behind her. "Lookit you, you're a Mechwarrior now!"

"I am, got my own lance and everything!" Ruby replied with a wide grin. "How about you, is that a supply corps patch?"

"Yeah, they got me here working the Quartermaster's office… Oh, hey, come meet my boss!"

Towing her backwards with her hand gripped in her own, Neon brought her before a dark-skinned man in a neat set of pressed light grey fatigues and sunglasses perched on his nose that he was looking over at the pair in amusement.

"Ruby, this is my boss here, Flynt! Flynt, this is Ruby, another Remnanter like me!"

"Pleased to meet you," the man chuckled, shaking her hand firmly. He had a smooth drawl that seemed to match his handsome features and close-shorn dark hair. "Warrant Officer Flynt Coal, at your service."

"Warrant Officer Ruby Rose," she replied with a warm smile. "Third Lance, Bravo Company."

"Very nice, glad to see a friend of Neon's doing well," he stated, giving her a friendly invitation to sit with a wave of his hand. "So what brings you to this ball of dirt and sand?"

"Eh, I go where they deploy me," Ruby shrugged as she plopped down at the table. It looked as if both Flynt and Neon had just finished up their meals. "Managed to make it off of Teng with my 'Mech, somehow I impressed my new CO and he gave me command of my lance and a promotion."

"Pretty young for that, too," Flynt nodded, though there was no judgment in his tone, just curiosity. "You're, what, twenty?"

"Nineteen, actually."

He barked out a laugh at that, joined by Neon's giggles. "She's always been a bit of a prodigy," the Cat Faunus enjoined. "Like, a total whiz at 'Mechs. Bet you're still running circles around everyone, huh? How's your new lance taking it?"

"Eh, I've been holding myself back with them," she shrugged, her smile dipping a bit. "Still trying to see how well they work together, I don't want them thinking they can depend on just me, y'know? But it's a good group, two other Remnanters and someone from the Lyran Commonwealth."

"Oh yeah? Who else from home?"

"My sister, Yang. Um, she was a couple years ahead of us, Yang Xiao-Long… and then Blake Belladonna, I think she was in the same class as Yang."

"Right, yeah, I knew them both," Neon nodded. "I mean, I didn't  _know_  them, just knew  _of_  them."

"I gotcha," Ruby laughed.

"So, you said someone from Steiner space?" Flynt interjected. "That's curious, I didn't know of anyone else besides myself in the Regulars who came from there."

"Oh really?" Ruby's eyes were alight with curiosity. "From where? And how'd you end up  _here_?"

"Little planet called Galatea. Used to be pretty populated and prosperous, until the Aramis revolt… then we got caught in the crossfire of a few battles." Flynt shrugged his shoulders, though there was a sad weariness to it. "We've been trying to rebuild for generations, but opportunities have been slim to none for anyone with ambition."

"And is that who you are, a guy with ambition?" Ruby queried with a gentle smile.

"You better believe it. I wanted to see the galaxy, left when I was a teenager and toured around Steiner space for a bit, working in a few Merc outfits before I ended up in the Capellan Confederation. Signed up with the Regulars to put my talents to use, figured it'd give me some good contacts I could use down the line."

"He's like a procurement savant," Neon stage-whispered. "Can get his hands on anything you need, legal or otherwise."

Flynt just shrugged once more, this time with a good deal of smugness behind the action.

"Very nice," Ruby laughed. "I'll be sure to stay on your good side, then."

"Hey, any friend of Neon, here, is a friend of mine." The older man chuckled briefly. "She's become like a little sister to me by this point. But you mentioned one of your lancemates was from Steiner space, as well?"

"Yep, Weiss Schnee, not sure from where, though."

Flynt's glasses slipped down again briefly to show dark eyes widened slightly in shock. "Did you say… Weiss  _Schnee?_ "

"Um, yep, that's right… you know her?"

"I know of her… well, her family, to be precise…" He pushed his glasses up once more, face becoming impassive. "When you get the chance, ask her about what happened in the Isle of Skye. I'm not gonna say anything more about it."

" _Okaaayyy_ …" Ruby drawled out uncertainly. She recognized the region, a cluster of immensely wealthy planets that were founding members of the Lyran Commonwealth. They were located closer to Terra and in the past war had seen heavy fighting, managing to hold off the Kuritans until they decided to change their attention to the Tamar Pact region. Still, the region was shrunken by now, many of the worlds still in either the hands of the Draconis Combine or the Free Worlds League. What was left, though, seemed to be undergoing a revolutionary movement, from what she could recall. Aldo Lestrade IV, Duke of Summer and leader of the region, had begun what some were calling the Free Skye movement, fostering political separatist sentiment among the people of his province.

"And what about you, Neon?" The brunette finally broached the question she'd been wanting to since laying eyes on her old friend. "Still… issues with…?"

"Yep, still afraid of heights," Neon stated cheerfully. "I try it every now and then, only get a couple meters up in the scaffolding before Flynt has to come up and get me down. I mean, I still play in the simulators sometimes when they're not in use…"

"Yeah, well, you ever want to go up against a non-computerized opponent, you let me know, okay?" Ruby offered her friend a soft smile, careful to keep any trace of pity out of her expression.

"Pfft, yeah, if I want my ass handed to me," Neon grinned sardonically.

* * *

Ruby pulled her neurohelmet off, exhaling as she ran her hands through her sweat-soaked bangs. The cooling systems in the training modules never worked quite as well as in an actual 'Mech, though they did a rather good job of imitating the heat dumped out by a Battlemech in battle.

Heat was a killer as deadly as laser fire in the field, depending on your 'Mech and the weaponry you used. Most 'Mechs in her weight class didn't have a problem with heat dissipation, even with jump jets, but others mounting heavier lasers, high-capacity missile launchers, or particle projection cannons, had to keep a close eye on their heat levels. PPCs, in particular, generated a whole lot of thermal energy that Battlemechs struggled to dump through heat sinks. If the levels got too high, the internal structure of a 'Mech could be damaged, and the 'Mech itself might shut down to prevent an overload of its fusion engine.

Her lance was coming along, even if they had plenty of rough spots. Her plan of holding back a bit, forcing the others to take more of an aggressive stance against the computerized opponents, was paying off. She was able to see both the strengths and flaws of her team as they went up against progressively harder scenarios. The last one, facing off against two full lances of light 'Mechs led by a 55-ton Wolverine, a fearsome opponent even against her entire lance, they barely pulled off intact. Both Yang and Weiss were forced to eject, Ruby's 'Mech was in tatters, and Blake's Stinger was missing both arms, along with her weaponry.

But they managed to emerge victorious.

She smiled to herself, thinking of their very different styles of piloting. Yang was headstrong, a brawler who liked to charge right in and mix it up in hand-to-hand combat, which often put their opponents off-guard. They were slow enough to react that she'd rack up a number of kills before she was swarmed under. Which, of course, was her biggest weakness, that impulsive and headstrong behavior wasn't acting like part of a lance and would take herself out in a hurry if she didn't wait for backup.

Interestingly, Blake managed to adapt to Yang's playstyle enough to serve as that backup in the last fight. She was more of a skirmisher, striking fast and fading back again, so when Yang was in danger of being overwhelmed once more she showed up to distract and harass the blonde's opponents. The problem lay with the raven-haired Mechwarrior's hesitance in engaging otherwise. She tended to hang back until she saw an opening that worked for her, which meant she passed up on several other golden opportunities if she would trust in her own abilities and those of her lancemates.

Then there was Weiss. She'd not had the time to speak with her about her background and what Flynt had mentioned, but still, Ruby was impressed with what she'd been able to glean, bit by bit. The platinum-haired Mechwarrior was overconfident, to be sure, but that seemed to be her only real flaw. She was a proficient enough pilot, though her analytical and tactical comments during the battles made Ruby realize the true depths of her talent.

The brunette grinned to herself as she popped the side open on her training module, dropping the helmet on the seat behind her as she pulled herself out. Her three lancemates were standing around nearby, Yang waving her hands about animatedly, no doubt describing her movements in the last bout. Blake stood by with her usual impassiveness, though there was a hint of a smile tugging at her mouth. And Weiss was actually in attendance as well, a smirk on her own face, likely prepared to remind the boisterous blonde of just how soon before her she had to eject. Her pale blue eyes, however, seemed to frequently flicker over to gaze at Blake before darting back.

Ruby hummed to herself thoughtfully. They still had some work ahead of them, but she was becoming more confident that they could pull it off.

_Tomorrow… we'll try some actual lance maneuvers, see how well they follow directions…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** More players introduced! We've got all of team ABRN as their friendly neighborhood Mechtechs, and the half of FNKI that we know of as support staff. Oh, and Flynt knows a little about Weiss' past, the plot thickens…
> 
> Obviously, not a lot of action here, but I'll see if I can't whet your appetite next chapter.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	4. Chapter 4

Gamma Base  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

Ruby paused in the hallway, turning towards the wall to rest her forehead there, banging it softly against the steel surface.  _And things had started out so promising…_

"Hey, Ruby? You okay?"

She smiled at the sound of her Chief Mechtech and friend, Arslan, but didn't look up. "Well enough, just… frustrated. It didn't go all that great this morning."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the silver-haired older woman lean against the wall next to her with her arms crossed. "Hmm. You got to the team exercise part, eh?"

"Yup." She popped the end of the word. "I dunno, maybe I'm not really cut out for this leadership thing… Briggs made it look so easy when he brought us rookies together…"

"Well, for starters, I think you're selling yourself short," Arslan began slowly. "Also… you were the only strong personality in your lance, really. Once you decided to go along with it, the others fell into line. This lance, though… you've all got pretty strong personalities, even the quiet one."

"Blake? Yeah, she can be surprisingly stubborn, even if she's quiet about it… brings a whole new meaning to passive-aggressive…" Ruby let out a weak chuckle. "I think I got off on the wrong foot, y'know? Tried being friends before being their leader."

"Particularly Yang?"

"Yeah." Ruby sighed as she turned to regard her friend solemnly. "I don't think she can get past seeing me as just her little sister, I mean… when Remnant got invaded by Liao, our parents couldn't return. So it was just us, and she took care of me…"

"But you were a teenager by then, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. But even before that, one or both of them would be off on a deployment and it was her raising me."

"Well, I don't think it's as dire as you think it is." Arslan gave her a grin that was colored just a bit with mischievousness. "You still holding yourself back?"

"Well, yeah, a bit…"

"Ok, then, here's what you could maybe do, if you think it'd work…"

As Arslan spoke, Ruby's own grin became more and more wicked as she mulled the idea over in her head.

Sometime later, as she approached her lance's bunk room, her sharp hearing picked up on raised voices. She paused outside in the hallway, straining to hear what was being argued about.

"...At least half a dozen times, now, just since we got back!" Yang was stating hotly. "You got a problem with them or something?"

"Look, it's just not something I'm used to!" Weiss replied with unusual vehemence. "I mean… they're just out there, and what am I supposed to think? Are they… Are they real? Or…"

"Yes, my ears are real," Blake spoke up firmly, though in a much quieter tone. "They're part of me. I'm sure you've seen Neon's tail, haven't you?"

"Well, yes, but… How? I mean…"

"Ok, look, Weiss…" Yang let out a huff of air. "Yeah, maybe we never really sat you down and explained about where we're from. Can we do that now?"

"Certainly. Please."

Ruby grinned to herself. Though she was a bit chagrined that she'd never considered the fact that Weiss would be wholly unprepared for the sight of a woman with cat ears or what that meant, she was happy to hear them reconciling among themselves. Not only that but that the normally hotheaded blonde was going out of her way to cool down and explain things.

She schooled her features into something more neutral as she continued forward, waiting by the doorway inside the room until Yang and Blake, together, had finished educating their lancemate on Remnant and the Faunus. Once they were finished, and Weiss was nodding thoughtfully, she cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention.

"We done with the cultural lesson?" she asked mildly.

"Yep, just bringing Weiss up to speed," Yang grinned, leaning back with her arms behind her head.

"Good, glad to hear it. Now… we need to talk about today's exercise."

"You mean today's disaster," Weiss scoffed lightly. "I swear, Blake, it's like you don't even want to listen to my directions."

"I would if they made sense." The raven-haired woman regarded her lancemate steadily. "They didn't and you didn't explain yourself. What about Yang?"

"Yang I expect to just dash off without a second thought."

"Hey!" the blonde interjected irritably.

"You, though," Weiss continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "I expected to at least work with me."

"I think you're all missing the point."

Three sets of eyes, pale blue, lilac, and amber turned to regard the brunette with red-tipped hair.

"Today's exercise was in team building," Ruby continued blandly. "I am the team leader, the lance leader. You should have been following  _my_  directions, Weiss, not coming up with your own. And Blake, you didn't listen to  _anyone_ , just did your own thing as usual."

"It's not like that," Yang protested airily. "I mean, yeah, we're a team now, we'll figure out how to work together, no reason to get all worked up about it, Rubbles."

Weiss snorted softly, though without any real heat or malice. "Obviously, there's a lack of actual leadership, I was merely trying to fill in with my own experience."

"Uh-huh." Ruby gazed at them without rancor. "And you, Blake?"

The Cat Faunus regarded her steadily. "I follow those I respect," she stated simply.

 _Right, well, she'll be the easiest to win over._  "Okay, fine, then here's what we're gonna do. Let's take this into the field, me against the three of you. You tag me with enough damage to cripple me, then we can discuss a change in leadership. I take you three out, or last fifteen minutes, then you have to listen to what I say without any more complaint."

There was a period of silence before Weiss let out a scornful laugh. "Three on one? The outcome is a foregone conclusion, but it's your funeral."

Even Yang was shaking her head with a rueful smile as she rose from her seat. "Yeah, I think you're biting off a bit more than you can chew, here, Rubbles, but I'm game."

Blake remained motionless, her gaze boring into Ruby unerringly which she returned with as much evenness as she could muster. Finally, the raven-haired woman gave her a small, thoughtful nod. "Very well," she murmured. "I'm in."

* * *

Dragon Proving Grounds  
Planet: Tallin

Ruby maneuvered her 'Mech into position, facing her three opponents. Stingers and Wasps were difficult to tell apart at first glance, save for the different sensor antenna placement. But if you knew what you were looking for, you could spot the pair of missile tubes by the chin of the Wasp and the small opening for the machine guns in the forearm of each Stinger.

Each 'Mech was of a similar tonnage, though unlike her Locust they were humanoid-shaped with discernable legs, torsos, arms, and heads. Additionally, they exhibited similar movement capabilities, with jump jets and a fairly high top speed.

Not as fast as  _Crescent Rose_ , but that was no surprise.

Yang's 'Mech,  _Ember Celica_ , faced her in the middle with barely restrained eagerness. She could have sworn she could see the Wasp bouncing on its toes. On the right was Blake's  _Gambol Shroud_ , and on the left was Weiss'  _Myrtenaster_. All three had the same drab green paint and the same amount of armor as her Locust, meaning two direct hits to the same area would usually result in penetration.

At first glance, it certainly seemed hopeless. Today, however, Ruby finally planned to cut loose.

"Everyone ready?" she queried into the open comm circuit.

"Ready an' waiting!"

"I am ready."

"Ready."

"Then go." Her words were calm and quiet, her actions anything but. With a smooth lurch, she was off, racing directly in between Yang and Blake. The blonde let out a  _squawk_  of surprise as she twisted to track the nimble Locust, but Blake merely engaged her jump jets to rocket off to the side.

The arena that they fought in was one full of both natural and artificial obstacles. Some three-story buildings were barely clinging to their supports, full of craters and pockmarks and burn scars, while the jutting buttes that dotted the enclosed canyon provided both cover and impediment.

Once she was past Yang, she didn't even bother turning to shoot. A pair of laser beams and another pair of missiles sailed overhead as she crouched into a turn, skidding around one of the natural obstructions before sliding to a halt. She quickly reversed direction, charging back the way she came.

Both Weiss and Yang, hot in pursuit, were equally surprised to see the birdlike 'Mech once again. This time, Ruby let loose with a laser shot to each opponent, clipping Weiss' left arm and disabling Yang's laser. Her machine guns chattered, not doing much real damage but causing each Mechwarrior to flinch further. Almost past the pair, she stopped again, pivoting on one foot.

It was too good of an opportunity for Yang to pass up, and without her main weapon, turned to charge at her, mechanized arms swinging.

Which, of course, was exactly what Ruby was hoping for.

As soon as the Wasp began its charge, Ruby ducked again and spun in a tight circle around Weiss' Stinger, which was still trying to track the elusive 'Mech. Ending up by her backside, Ruby changed direction and rammed a shoulder directly into the Stinger's back, pushing her into the Wasp's path.

Both 20-ton 'Mechs fell to the ground in a tangle, and Ruby paused to place several accurate but low-powered training shots onto their rear armor. Her computer display lit up with mock explosions as each Battlemech would have detonated their fusion power plants from the damage sustained.

 _Two down, one to-_  "Ahhh!" she squealed suddenly as she skipped to the side, barely avoiding the death-from-above attack by Blake's Stinger. Such maneuvers, just as dangerous to the attacker as it was to the opponent, involved a 'Mech attacking with their jump jets from above, plunging their legs down onto the other 'Mech's upper torso. While it did horrendous damage, it could also cripple the jumping 'Mech's legs or at the very least cause it to overbalance.

Ruby grinned tightly to herself as she raced around the corner of a building.  _She's good, I never saw her do that kinda trick before, but I bet she'd recover just fine. Balance of a cat._

She was fairly certain that Blake had been watching and analyzing her movements prior, so she didn't bother reversing direction again, sure that she'd be met by a laser blast to her face. Instead, as she raced along, she opened their shared channel back up. "Why, Blake, I do believe you've been holding back a bit."

"Like you're one to talk."

Her grin widened as she caught a hint of playfulness to Blake's tone, one she'd never heard before.  _Ok, then, let's play._

It was, she mused, rather like a game of cat and mouse, save that they could both fight back. She'd duck and scurry around a corner just ahead of the hunting Stinger but was unable to turn the tables on her. Every time she tried to out-maneuver the elusive Cat Faunus, she'd either put herself out of position or face an empty vista. In either case, she'd need to move again soon or Blake would catch her in her paper-thin rear armor.

Truthfully, she'd never had so much fun in all her life. The raven-haired woman was the first pilot she'd come up against who was actually close to her skill level.

Acting on sudden intuition, she stopped her forward progress and veered to the right, passing through a narrow alleyway. Just as she emerged, Blake's 'Mech touched down from her recent jump.

They shared a brief moment of surprise before each sprang into action.

Ruby took a pair of hits, one that took her right arm and machine gun out of commission and another that grazed her left torso. But she gave as well as she got as she danced to the side, scoring a solid hit on the Stinger's left leg that ruined a pair of jump jets there and another directly onto her chest.

_One more center torso hit and she's cored through…_

The Locust spun again, dodging further fire until she could line up the shot. As she got it, she took one hit to the chest first, but her armor held. When she went to fire, though…

She was presented with blinking red lights on her HUD, indicating critical failure of her main gun.

Ruby didn't hesitate in sprinting forward. She must have taken Blake by surprise, not expecting a 'Mech without arms to try and engage in brawling, but when she slammed her shoulder into the Stinger's torso it went down, hard. Not giving her a chance to recover, Ruby took two long steps forward and rested her foot atop the downed 'Mech's head.

With the minimal armor afforded to their class of light 'Mechs, the slightest pressure would crush Blake's cockpit into compressed debris, and Blake along with it.

"I think," Ruby panted into the comm, "that I have the upper hand."

"I believe you are correct," Blake returned dryly, though with a strained undercurrent. "I concede."

"Well fought," she laughed, moving back to allow her former opponent room to get back to her feet. "I'd help you up, but, y'know… no hands."

"It's quite alright," Blake laughed breathlessly as her Stinger gracefully pulled itself upright again. "Though I must admit, I'm unused to picking myself up off of the ground."

"Back to the barracks?"

"Indeed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Woohoo, got some 'Mech action again, finally. I think this makes a pretty good turning point, eh? We shall see how the others react in the next chapter…
> 
> Stay shiny!


	5. Chapter 5

Gamma Base  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

The atmosphere of the bunk room for the Third Lance of Bravo Company was both pensive and deflated at the same time. Three Mechwarriors, one blonde, one platinum-haired, and another with raven hair that matched the furry cat ears atop her head, sat around the dormitory, staring off into nothingness.

"We," Yang declared solemnly, "just got our asses handed to us." She had her chin resting on her forearms that were folded on top of the small communal table.

Weiss let out a long, drawn-out sigh from where she perched on the edge of her bunk. "Honestly, while there was certainly a surprisingly high degree of skill involved, I was quite... unlucky. We're also not used to working together as a team."

Blake finally stirred from where she leaned against the wall, uncrossing her arms before sitting down on her own bunk. "No," she declared with quiet intensity. "She's just really that good. If you want to try going one-on-one with her, you'll get the precise same result."

The blonde Mechwarrior lifted her head up and nodded decisively, turning to regard Weiss. "Yeah, it sucks that it took this to clear my head, but I should have been supporting Rubbles… I mean, Ruby… right from the start. She's not my kid sister here, she's my commanding officer. And I'm damn proud of her for getting to this point."

She then turned her gaze into a scowl. "And if you're thinking about challenging her still, you're gonna have to answer to me."

"Nonsense," the platinum-haired woman bristled lightly. "We had a deal, and setting aside the conditions, the results are clear. Of course I will accept Ruby as our leader."

Yang turned her head to peer at the other member of their lance. "Blakey?"

The Cat Faunus didn't hesitate in nodding. "Mmm."

"Well  _that_  was a resounding vote of confidence," Weiss stated sarcastically, though the accompanying smile took the edge off of the barb.

Blake nodded again in deference. "I stated before I follow those whom I respect. Ruby has earned my respect many times over after today."

"Alrighty then," Yang laughed, stretching in her chair with her arms crossed over her head. "It's settled."

Outside in the hallway, Ruby let out a soft sigh of relief. "How about that, it actually worked," she murmured.

"Told you they'd come around," Arslan smiled, giving her a bump with her shoulder.

"Yeah," she replied, a wide grin on her face. "Maybe now we can start acting like a cohesive unit."

The older woman laughed as she pushed herself off of the wall. "You've got what it takes, boss."

"Thanks for the advice, Arslan," the brunette called to the woman's retreating back. She received an amicable wave over the shoulder in return.

Taking a deep breath before exhaling slowly, Ruby strode forward and into her lance's bunk room.

"Alright, then," she began firmly. "Let's gather around and see what we can do to work together better and become the best damn Recon lance in all of the Liao Regulars."

* * *

As the members of the Third Lance filed into the base's auditorium, they were hit by an almost palpable air of expectation. Excited mumblings drifted from all around as they took their assigned seats.

"I don't really know a whole lot of other folks from our company," Ruby murmured. She gave a friendly nod towards where the techies were gathered against the wall and another to where she saw Neon and Flynt sitting. "Seems like everyone is here, though."

"Must be a pretty big deal for the Captain to pull all of us together, huh?" Yang added. She sent a few winks around the room while flicking her hair over her shoulder.

Ruby noticed the action and gave her sister a level stare. "Really, Yang?"

"Hey, I work out a lot, and see some of our comrades in arms at the gym while I do."

"And flirt outrageously with them," Blake added in her husky monotone, sounding both unimpressed and uninterested.

"Not  _all_  of them."

"True," Blake smirked. "You've never hit on me."

"That's 'cause you're my lancemate," Yang defended herself loftily.

Weiss leaned in from the end to look past the Cat Faunus with a smirk of her own. "And because she'd kick your ass if you tried."

"Hey, what is this," the blonde protested, "pick on Yang day?"

"Alright, people, settle down," Ruby murmured as she saw Captain Li Han enter the room.

"You got it, boss," the blonde whispered with a wink. Still, the other three Mechwarriors sat back attentively and without further comment.

A brief grin flashed across Ruby's face at both the comment and their immediate acquiescence, but she turned as well to regard her commanding officer as the rest of the room stilled.

"Thank you for assembling," the thin man began. He stood with his feet spaced apart and hands clasped behind his back. "I've just finished a meeting with the commissioned officers of Third Battalion, and while some information is on a need-to-know basis, I'd still like to convey the gist of things to you all." He smiled briefly. "I believe in keeping my people updated when I can."

Li Han began to slowly pace across the front of the room, his sonorous voice easily carrying to all those present. "We've had a rash of probing attacks and raids on Tallin, more so than usual. Regimental intelligence believes that this is a precursor to a probable invasion."

A new rush of excited whisperings flew about the room like a startled flock of birds while Ruby sat up straighter, her mind awhirl with the implications of this news.

"Invasion?" Yang whispered incredulously. "Ain't the war pretty much over, now?"

"That doesn't stop the Houses from still trying to take a handful of worlds when they can," Blake murmured in reply.

"While we don't have anything concrete yet," he continued, "we do consider this a credible threat. As such, all upcoming leave is postponed indefinitely, though you will continue to accrue time off. All of our bases and outposts across the planet are on lockdown. I will be putting together a patrol schedule in case our orbital defense network is compromised and we're unable to obtain advance warning of any incoming dropships."

Li Han stopped then in the exact same position and stance as before. "Any questions?"

Weiss quickly raised her hand and waited to be acknowledged with a nod. "Sir, Mechwarrior Schnee from Third Lance. Can you disclose what the current disposition of the regiment is on the planet and what area our company has to cover? Are we expected to defend the countryside or the base?"

"Both excellent questions, Miss Schnee. Obviously the first pertains to any available reinforcements… which will be few to none, unfortunately." The Captain stared off into the distance for a moment before nodding to himself. "I can tell you this. Of the regiment that is currently garrisoning Tallin, two battalions are scattered across the countryside in bases such as ours, guarding installations or small towns. One battalion, the First, remains in the main city of Tabetha, including the Colonel's… elite company."

Ruby picked up on the subtly derisive tone Li Han used in the label of the Colonel's company and she smirked slightly to herself. Obviously, he was being careful not to disparage said company, but his personal disdain leaked through.

"For the second question, our primary concern is this facility. As most of you should know, this facility is the primary hub for the orbital defense network. There are other backup facilities, but this is the central one and of utmost concern, hence our full company present. That said, we do want to patrol the immediate vicinity as there are numerous canyons and valleys nearby that could hide the enemy were they to make an undetected landfall."

Weiss gave the Captain a short bow. "Thank you, sir."

"Anyone else? No? Alright, people, get some rack time, patrol schedules will start in the morning. 'Mech lance leaders, remain behind for a moment, please."

The others filed out the door while Ruby made her way down to join the other two Warrant Officers. She knew of one, W.O. Drillson, she thought his first name might be Jason. He was another survivor from Teng. The other, leading Li Han's own lance, she was unfamiliar with, though his name tag read "W.O. Huong".

"Ok, people, I'll keep this short," the Captain said with a sigh, rubbing a hand across his face. "There's a lot of info that I'm not privy to, all I can do is read between the lines and keep you all as informed as possible. That said… It's a slow process. The Colonel briefs his staff, they brief the Majors, the Majors brief their staffs, and then they brief the company Captains." He shook his head wearily. "It's cumbersome and frustrating as hell, but nothing to be done for it. As for the patrols… I don't want single 'Mechs going out alone, nor do I want an entire lance to cover the route. Any suggestions?"

"If I may, sir," Ruby began slowly. "I've been toying with the idea of using a partner system within my lance. Working together as a larger team and then as pairs for better coordination."

"That's… an excellent idea, Rose." Li Han smiled down at the young Warrant Officer. "How is your lance coming along, by the way?"

"We had a rough start, but we're really pulling together now sir," she stated proudly. "We're a cohesive unit already, and we're working on using our strengths to overcome or minimize our weaknesses."

"Good to hear. I knew I'd made the right choice in your position. You run into any trouble, feel free to approach me, alright?"

"Yessir!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Bit of a shorter chapter. So the RWBY lance is coming together but it sounds like they're going to be in the thick of things soon enough.
> 
> Next chapter, we'll get back into the action…
> 
> Stay shiny!


	6. Chapter 6

Gamma Base  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

Ruby blew her bangs out from in front of her face, along with a few droplets of sweat, as she climbed down the ladder extending from the lower hatch of  _Crescent Rose_. Locusts had the interesting design of two exit ports from the cockpit, one on top of the boxy torso and one below, which made for easier access while secured to the gurney of a Mechbay.

As her boots hit the bottom, she used the sleeve of her coveralls to wipe the rest of the sweat away. They'd done some extensive exercises today but had some time to rest now before the first patrol was scheduled to start.

"How's it running, Ruby?"

She turned with a grin to regard her Mechtech, Arslan. "Smooth as a baby's butt!"

The silver-haired woman laughed merrily. "Well, okay, then. Still set on keeping your 'Mech running in standby?"

"Yup," she replied, popping the end of the word as she slowly made her way towards where her fellow lancemates were gathered. "You think you'll be getting any flack for it?"

"Well, I may not," her friend murmured. "But  _you_  might." She indicated with an incline of her chin an approaching man, corpulent and sweaty, wearing the dark grey overalls of the Mechtechs.

"Rose!" the man barked. "I need a word with you!"

"Um, who is he?" she whispered out the side of her mouth.

"Chief Mechtech Grant," Arslan murmured in reply before stepping a few paces back.

"Yes, Chief?" she greeted the man as politely as possible.

He came to a halt, huffing and puffing, before starting in on his rant, face red as an overheating 'Mech. "What's the meaning of you lot keeping your 'Mechs on standby? Third Lance doesn't get special treatment, you know, maintenance has to be done, and those fusion reactors kick up heat in this hangar!"

Ruby glanced around the cavernous space with the wide, open end. "Um, not that much heat, Chief, and most of the heat comes from outside. It's pretty damn hot on Tallin."

"Not the point!" he blustered. "You're creating a hazard!"

"Now, Chief," she tried to reassure the man soothingly. "Our Mechtechs are okay with this, I already checked with them. Any maintenance they need to do around the engines, we'll just shut down for. But we need to be ready to move in case of attack."

"Attack? What attack? We'd have plenty of warning for any attack, your request is ridiculous!"

 _Right, well, I tried the nice approach…_  "Chief, lemme ask you something."

"Yeah?" he prompted querulously.

"Who takes precedence in the order of things, Mechwarriors or Mechtechs?"

He gaped at the younger woman, sputtering but unwilling to answer.

"That's what I thought." Ruby offered him a tight smile. "My orders stand. If you have a problem with them, please talk to Captain Li Han."

"Fine," the rotund man ground out before spinning on his heel and waddling away indignantly.

The brunette sighed as she glanced over her shoulder. "I hate doing that."

"I know you do, hun," Arslan answered with a sympathetic smile. "You don't believe in any of that caste bullshit, but if you can use it…"

"Yeah, well…" Ruby sighed again. "I'm gonna go debrief the others. Catch you later?"

"I'll be around," the older woman replied genially.

The lance leader rejoined her group, leading them back towards their bunks. "So, I think we're definitely getting better at working together," she opined.

"No doubt," Weiss replied simply.

Yang, though, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, Blake and I are getting a whole lot better at sticking together and with those sweet combo moves, we'll be sure to be a major threat on the battlefield!"

"Mmm," Blake commented with a nod.

Ruby grinned at the interaction. The brunette was getting better at deciphering the Cat Faunus' small hums, she was a woman of few words but still held strong convictions. If something wasn't going to her tastes, she was quick to let everyone know, but lately she'd been opening up more with the team.

"Speaking of which…" Ruby began as they entered their room and flopped onto beds and chairs. "I want to talk about an idea that's been banging around in my head for a while. I mentioned it to the Captain and he thought it was a good idea. In fact, we're gonna be scheduling our patrols around this."

"What would that be?' Weiss asked curiously.

"Well, the idea is to work not just as a lance, but as partners. Blake and Yang, Weiss and myself, like we've been doing in our maneuvers. So we could operate efficiently as the four of us together, but for smaller operations, we could split into pairs and be just as efficient."

The other three were silent for a few beats, digesting the information.

"That's… actually pretty inspired," Weiss murmured thoughtfully.

Ruby just shrugged modestly. "Eh, I'm no tactical genius or anything, my strength lies in piloting. I just… look at things differently, outside of the box, y'know? Nothing like you are, Weiss."

"Me?" the platinum-haired woman replied, perplexed.

"Yeah, you. I've been keeping track of how you look at things, the comments you make…" Ruby gave her lancemate a brilliant smile. "You're seriously a tactical prodigy, I wanna make sure we work together on our maneuvers and what we can do to improve."

"I… Very well." Weiss gave her lance leader a slow nod and smile. "I will endeavor not to let you down."

"I know you won't," she chuckled. "Lessee, what else… So, I got chewed out today by the Chief Mechtech, he gives any of you trouble, you refer him to me, ok?"

"Didya tell him off?" Yang asked with a perceptive grin.

Ruby shrugged. "Not so much, just… pulled the Mechwarrior card, which I don't like to do. But it got him to back down."

"It's a valid strategy, though," Blake interjected softly. "Keeping our 'Mechs in standby, that is."

"Thanks, Blake, I tend to think so too. Haven't run it by the Captain yet, but I'm pretty sure he'll agree. We're supposed to be the advanced recon lance, after all…"

She trailed off at the distant sound of a wailing klaxon.

"Is that…" Yang murmured.

Soon enough, the base alarms went off with the overhead speakers blaring.

"All Mechwarriors, to your Battlemechs, this is not a drill. We are under imminent attack. All Mechwarriors…"

"Let's move, people!" Ruby shouted as she took off in a sprint, her lance hot on her heels.

They dashed into the hangar to a scene of chaos as uniformed personnel ran to and fro. Ruby made a beeline for  _Crescent Rose_ , calling out a quick greeting to the lance's Mechtechs as she did so.

"Already unlocked, Ruby!" Arslan shouted back. "Kick 'er into gear as soon as you get settled!"

 _What would I do without that woman, she's amazing,_  the brunette grinned to herself as she climbed the ladder like a monkey. As soon as she was inside her cockpit, she slapped the ladder retract button, slammed the hatch closed, and jumped into her seat, pulling the neurohelmet onto her head. Within a matter of seconds she was synchronized with her 'Mech, and seeing the path clear, lurched forward into a run. She hit her top speed before even clearing the 'Mech bay entryway.

Ahead, only a few klicks distant, were the silhouettes of four 'Mechs that her HUD quickly tagged as unfriendly.  _Nice try, assholes, but you're not catching us by surprise on_ _ **my**_ _watch!_

Her radar display showed her three lancemates departing the bay at a full sprint as well. "Alright, let's intercept and give the others time to power up," she began. "Break to the sides, high and low!"

Setting her plan into motion, she veered off to the left, avoiding the first barrage of long-range missiles. More LRMs fell in the path of her lancemates, but they were already moving as well. Both Blake and Weiss took to the air, rocketing ahead on jump jets while Yang swung wide to the right.

"Now!" Ruby barked.

With smooth precision, the jumpers cut their flight and landed in crouches, sending accurate fire into the flanking 'Mechs. Ruby and Yang joined in, the latter sending off a pair of SRMs as well.

The opponent on the left flank, a 45-ton Blackjack armed with long-range autocannons and medium lasers, staggered slightly at the hits to his torso. He reacted soon enough, swinging his arms around that ended in long barrels. Autocannon fire stitched across the landscape, but Ruby nimbly skipped out of the way and fired more shots into his side torsos. Soon enough a small explosion was seen, indicating a critical hit on one of the medium lasers there.

The enemy that Yang and Blake faced was a 35-ton Panther, a very capable if slow light 'Mech. It sported a deadly PPC paired with a cluster of short-range missiles. He only got one bast off with the energy weapon which went wide from his target before Yang slammed into him, sending a punch into the side of his head. The Panther staggered right into the laser and machine gun fire of Blake's  _Gambol Shroud_ , raking across his flank and melting off armor. Taking advantage of the weakness, Yang delivered another mighty punch into the same side, cracking the surface wide open, before she used her jump jets to rocket away.

"All yours, Blakey!" the blonde announced with a laugh.

The Stinger proceeded to send another pair of shots into the exposed area, causing a series of explosions from the SRM ammo to tear the Battlemech apart. The head split open and an ejection seat flew out ahead of a gout of flame.

"Woohoo!" Yang cheered. "Scratch one!"

The Blackjack was in serious trouble until his lancemate joined in to help. However, the 30-ton Spider, while an extremely fast and nimble 'Mech, only sported a pair of medium lasers. As such it was a danger to Weiss, who circled cautiously to keep the pair of opponents occupied, but not as much to Ruby, who was still faster and more dexterous.

And Ruby wasn't about to let a little thing like being severely outclassed in weight stop her.

She danced in, avoiding the laser fire but taking a hit to the side from one of the autocannons. Being long-ranged, it was of a much smaller caliber, and as such made only a sizable dent without breaching the armor as it ricocheted off. And then she was within the minimum range of the autocannons, limiting their accuracy.

Of course, she still had those lasers to worry about.

Spinning around, she weaved in between the two 'Mechs, bumping into the Spider to send it stumbling to the side and delivering another pair of laser hits to the Blackjack. With the second one, its left arm seemed to lose power, tilting down to point listlessly at the ground.

As she sped back off again, the two enraged Mechwarriors turned their lasers on the Locust, trying to end the elusive threat.

Of course, by doing so, they forgot about the other member of Ruby's lance engaging them.

Weiss sailed into close range on her jump jets, delivering a barrage of laser blasts to the rear armor of the Blackjack while charging into the back of the Spider. The 30-ton 'Mech stumbled once again and fell flat on its face, while the medium-class 'Mech almost lost its footing as well but managed to stagger forward...

...And right into Ruby's attack, coring through its other torso and setting off the remaining autocannon rounds like a series of firecrackers.

The enemy Mechwarrior managed to eject safely, leaving just the one 'Mech opponent.

 _Crescent Rose_  stalked up and rested its foot atop the Spider's head, much as had been done with Blake. "Surrender," Ruby ordered over her external speakers.

The canopy popped open, revealing a bedraggled Mechwarrior who dropped to the ground, arms raised.

Not far away, Yang and Blake were fully occupied with the remaining 'Mech. It was a 50-ton Enforcer, a tough and reliable Battlemech armed with a heavy autocannon and a large laser. A single hit from one or the other weapon would disable if not outright destroy either light 'Mech, so they had their hands full dodging and probing for an opening.

"Hey boss, if you're done over there, we could use some help!" Yang pleaded breathlessly.

Just as she landed after another leap from her jump jets, however, the Enforcer managed to finally pin her down. Heavy autocannon rounds tore through her leg, severing it and causing the Wasp to fall flat on its face.

"Shit!" the blonde barked out. "I'm down!"

She rolled herself over, trying to struggle back to at least her one remaining knee when her mouth went dry. The medium 'Mech she faced was turned in her direction, both deadly weapons leveled her way.

Before he could fire, though, a form crashed into his top. Blake had performed another death-from-above maneuver, causing great rends to open up in his upper torso but failing to cripple the 'Mech. Still, the Enforcer was staggered and his aim thrown off momentarily.

"Ruby…?" Yang begged hopelessly, seeing  _Gambol Shroud_  now flat on its back, unmoving.

A pair of laser shots peppered the Enforcer's side from the direction of the rest of her lance, but it wasn't enough to distract him. At least, until a barrage of LRMs slammed into his torso, ripping through the remains of his armor and sending his right arm with the autocannon flying off to the side.

Yang blew out a relieved breath as her radar showed the Captain's 50-ton Centurion racing towards them, followed by a 45-ton Vindicator.

"Blake?" Ruby's voice came over the comm. "You ok?"

"I am well," the soft reply came back. "If a bit shaken."

"Yang?"

"Yeah, I'm good, boss," the blonde laughed. "Missing a part, though."

"Noticed that," her sister returned dryly.

"Yep, don't have a leg to stand on anymore."

Three groans sounded over their shared comm channel. "Really, Yang?" Weiss asked with just a trace of laughter in her tone.

"Yeah, these Battlemechs, man, they cost an arm and a leg to maintain."

The blonde just giggled to herself as she caused another round of groans to sound. On her screen, she watched as the retreating Enforcer was slowly picked apart by the arriving allies until the Mechwarrior was forced to eject.

A new voice intruded on their channel. "Rose Lance, status."

"No casualties, Captain," Ruby replied crisply. "Major damage to one 'Mech, minor damage to the other three, just armor."

"Well done, all four of you," Li Han replied. "I commend you for your quick response, if it weren't for you, that attack would have crippled us."

"All part of the service, sir!" Yang commented cheerfully.

Another 'Mech, Weiss'  _Myrtenaster_ , loomed in her field of vision. "Come on, you, on your feet," her lancemate enjoined gently. "Er, that is, foot. Let's get you back for repairs."

"Ready to leg it!"

"I will drop you," Weiss warned levelly.

"Alright, alright... We're definitely gonna need to be operational again, fast," Ruby agreed. "Captain, was this an isolated incident?"

"No indeed, Miss Rose. There are reports from all over, apparently, a trio of Union-class dropships slipped past our sensors. We're definitely under invasion status."

* * *

Forward Base  
White Fang Mercenary Battalion  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

The black-fatigued man leaned against the table, studying the results on his tablet as an aide updated the map tacked down to the table's surface. So far, their surprise attack had gone quite well, many facilities had been taken without even a fight. Several prize Battlemechs had fallen into their hands and the strength of their opposition was considerably diminished.

"Major Taurus, sir!"

He turned, slipping his dark red sunglasses down on his nose to regard the messenger that had just entered the temporary structure. "What is it, Perry?"

"Er, sir, we just received a report from an ejected pilot of Second Lance, Charlie Company. They… were wiped out."

"Wiped… out?" he snarled. "How? They had the advantage of surprise, did they not?"

"Well, they should have, yes... "

With a sigh, the mercenary leader straightened up, tugging at the jacket with the emblazoned white beast head on the back with three red slashes diagonally running through the image. "Do we have satellite video?"

"Er, I think so, sir…"

"Well, then, get it!" he snapped irritably.

"Yessir!"

As his subordinate bent to his task, Taurus glanced back at the map, his teeth grinding together. That was a major base on his list, though he wasn't sure of the significance of it. Why else would it be out in the middle of nowhere, situated next to a paint factory and housing a full company of Battlemechs?

"Here you go, sir."

The Major peered at the handheld device, watching the video taken by one of the satellites they'd left behind in orbit. On it, a quartet of light 'Mechs, laughably outclassed by the lance he had sent, somehow managed to hold his people off to a standstill, even taking out three-quarters of their strength, before reinforcements arrived to destroy the last survivor.

"Perry," he began quietly in a dangerous growl. "I want to you to find out who this lance is. Everything there is to know about them. And if you can catch them out in the open…" He looked up, his features etched with fury. "I want them destroyed, priority one."

His adjutant gulped. "Yes, sir!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** The invasion, it has started! And lookit who we have as opponents! Now, this is going to be an odd deviation from the usual fanfics, but in here, Adam Taurus is actually not Faunus, not even from Remnant. And he's had no past dealing with Blake. He just hates that whole lance in general, at this point.
> 
> Next chapter, the action continues!
> 
> Stay shiny!


	7. Chapter 7

Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

Weiss' pale blue eyes scanned her sensor display, looking for any hint of a reading from the 'Mech she was stalking. Her lance had been ordered into the area on a search and destroy mission, and so far they had managed to bag a 45-ton Phoenix Hawk. It was the latest in a series of successful engagements with the enemy, as yet unknown so far as their identity save that Ruby surmised they were mercenaries.

Her mouth pursed thoughtfully. If they were mercs, they were awfully well trained. Not to mention vicious as they certainly didn't seem interested in taking prisoners. And also well informed, if the reports of the fallen outposts around the countryside were true.

The current terrain managed to work in their favor, however. There were many stretches of rocky land that were littered with huge boulders, enough to offer Rose Lance the opportunity to spring a few ambushes. The Phoenix Hawk was a fast medium 'Mech often serving as lance leader for other lights such as Wasps and her own Stinger.

And so, right now the four of them had split up to probe the current sector for the other 'Mechs that should have inevitably accompanied the first. Just as she was edging around a bend, her comm lit up with noise.

"I got one!" Yang called out excitedly. "Another Wasp!"

"Roger that, Blake move in, Weiss stay in position," Ruby ordered curtly.

The Lyran native nodded to herself. It made sense, she was out on the far left flank while Yang was on the far right, it'd take her some time to back her lancemates up. For all of her claims of lacking tactical awareness, Ruby was doing a fine job as their leader in that regard.

She finished edging around just as her sensors blossomed with a heat signature. And then, striding into view across the gully, was a humanoid shaped-Battlemech with a tube-like missile launcher perched on its shoulder and a large energy weapon mounted on the right arm.

Her mouth went dry as her HUD identified her opponent as a 55-ton Griffin.

The class of 'Mechs in the 55-ton range were indisputably deadly. By a quirk of their tonnage they could fit a fast, powerful engine, not quite as fast as her own 'Mech but certainly speedier than most 50-ton 'Mechs. They also tended to mount jump jets and a rather lethal array of weaponry. In the case of the Griffin, its weakness was the long-range capability of its arsenal. A PPC was paired with a rack of ten LRMs in a single launcher. The targeting of both armaments suffered at closer ranges, but either weapon could easily spell her doom.

"Griffin!" She let out a shriek as she engaged her jump jets to try and close with her opponent, knowing that to retreat at this point would be futile as her HUD has already warned of a successful sensor lock by the much heavier 'Mech.

"What?" Ruby yelled back. "Shit, Weiss, hang on, we're almost done, be there as soon as we can!"

"Hurry!" she implored urgently, twisting her controls to lurch to the side and out of the way of a barrage of missiles. She scored some hits with her medium laser, but they were as effective as if she'd tossed barbed words instead. The armor on the tough 'Mech was simply too thick for her to breach without taking major damage herself, she'd be better off trying to maneuver behind the Griffin.

That in mind, she leaned forward and engaged her jump jets again, trying to sail past her opponent. Just as she landed, however, the medium-class 'Mech whirled with surprising speed and lashed out with its left arm, smashing into her side.

Weiss' vision whirled around her as her 20-ton Battlemech went flying from the attack before landing on her back.

"Get up… get up, get up, Weiss, get the fuck up!" she gritted out, struggling to move. She managed to lurch to her feet just in time to avoid a rush from the other 'Mech and leapt back to assess her damage.

"Left arm gone, side torso armor at 50%... one jump jet damaged…" The platinum-haired Mechwarrior leaned backward and engaged what remaining jump jets were still functional, trying to remain out of range from those deadly hands while still staying inside the desired accuracy-deteriorated state of her opponent's weaponry.

Unfortunately, the Griffin picked that precise moment to engage his own jump jets, leaping backward as well.

"Oh, no," she breathed in horror.

Sure enough, just as she hit the ground a brilliant lance of particle energy washed over  _Myrtenaster_. Her right arm and the attached medium laser went spinning away as her entire side torso was melted through, but what staggered her was the impact of the spread of LRMs against her front. Her Battlemech slammed into a large boulder, slumping to the ground.

Weiss shook her head to clear away the grogginess, wiping a smear of blood across her cheek from the red liquid dripping from above and below her left eye, blinding her on that side. Dazedly, she took in the blinking red lights on her staticy, flickering HUD informing of multiple critical failures. She then gazed past that display and through the shattered canopy to helplessly view her 'Mech's ruined legs.

She had no weapons and no way to move, it was long past time to eject.

As she slammed her small fist down on the button, however, nothing happened.

One pale blue eye flickered over to view the crimson blinking status, "Ejection Failed: Critical Damage to Head."

"Oh, shit," she murmured. "Ruby? Anyone read me? I'm down and cannot eject, anyone… copy…?"

She trailed off at the sight of another blinking red status indicating her comms had been destroyed as well.

"Anyone…?" she whispered, her right eye going wide at the view of the approaching Griffin. Her opponent, it would seem, wasn't in any mood to let escape.

And then a dark green Battlemech slammed into the 55-ton 'Mech's upper back, causing it to crash to the ground, face-first. Next, Ruby's familiar Locust raced up and took a small hop to land with both feet on the hand-mounted PPC, crushing it.

Finally, another form, Yang's Wasp, sailed in to land next to the Griffin's upper torso and level her laser against its forehead. "Your move, asshole," she could just make out past her cracked canopy.

Not a moment later, the pilot of the medium 'Mech climbed out from his ride, arms raised in surrender.

Tears ran down her cheeks to join with the blood as she leaned back in her chair wearily, slipping her neurohelmet off and closing her good eye.

"I am so glad to see you guys," she whispered, even knowing they couldn't hear her.

Gamma Base Infirmary  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

"But I'm fine, honestly," Weiss protested from the infirmary bed. "I can see perfectly well now, there's no vision impairment…"

"Even so," the doctor stated, his eyes on his tablet. "We're keeping you overnight for monitoring. A concussion is nothing to laugh at." With that, he departed, leaving Weiss alone.

"Who's laughing?" she grumbled irritably, arms crossed in front of the pale green hospital gown.

"Well, personally, I find that gown a hilariously bad color on you."

"Oh, ha, ha," she deadpanned, though her face lit up as her lancemates filed in, Yang wearing a cheeky grin to accompany her jibe. "Did you hear that? I have to stay here when I'm perfectly fine!" She pointed to the left side of her face. "Look, it's already scarred up, the fragment missed my eye itself! Isn't there anything you can do, Ruby?"

"Nope, sorry Weiss!" her lance leader replied cheerfully. "What I can do, though, is give you some good news. Well, a bunch of good news."

"Oh?" Her eyebrow quirked curiously. "Do tell."

"Well, ok, some bad news first. So, your Stinger is a total loss, it's been scrapped for parts."

"It… It was?" Her heart sank at the news, that she was now without a 'Mech. That she had now joined the ranks of… the Dispossessed.

It was a fate worse than death for many Mechwarriors, especially those who either owned their own 'Mech outright, some of them having been passed down the family through generations, or depended on their employer or military structure to keep them in a pilot's seat.

To be without a 'Mech was to lose all status, particularly loathsome for those, like herself, who had been raised on the elitism and supposed nobility of the Mechwarrior mythos.

But… surely it wouldn't be the same here, would it?

"Hey, easy now," Ruby murmured. She leaned in and rested a hand on Weiss' arm, evidently picking up on her distress. "That just brings us to the first bit of good news, we got you a new 'Mech."

"Really?" Her face must have lit up with joyous relief at that, from the laughter it engendered in the room.

"Yeah, really. In fact…" Ruby leaned back again, her silver eyes twinkling merrily. "You might be just a bit familiar with it. How'd you like to receive a nice slice of positive karma for a change?"

The platinum-haired woman furrowed her brow momentarily before her eyebrows shot back up in surprise. "The Griffin?"

"Yep! Hey, Arslan, you out there still?"

"Still lurking," the silver-haired Mechtech's voice preceded her poking her head around the doorway corner. "Hey, Weiss, good to see you upright."

"Thank you, Arslan. So what's this about the Griffin?"

"Right…" The older woman sauntered in, hands stuffed into the pockets of her greasy dark grey coveralls. "So, the only problem is the main weapon. We don't have any spare PPCs on hand, but I  _do_  have a large laser scavenged off of that earlier Enforcer I can substitute without any problem."

"I see…" Weiss chewed on her bottom lip in thought. That would remove the main drawback of a Griffin's default armaments, the lack of close-in capability, since the large laser didn't suffer from any aiming difficulty at near ranges. It did, however, have slightly less overall range than a particle projection cannon and would do a shade less damage, but she would still have the long-range missiles. "That leaves a few extra tons of space, though, correct?"

"It does indeed," Arslan grinned. "Figured on giving you a couple more extra heat sinks right there in the free space, let you fire your weapons more efficiently."

"So it's almost three times the weight of your Stinger, and just a tad slower," Ruby summarized. "But it'd give the lance some kickass long-range capability, not to mention a dropship-load more armor, yeah?"

"I'm… more than pleased, really." She smiled around at the assembled group. "Thank you all, truly, both for… well, for coming to my rescue, as well as for the replacement 'Mech."

"Awww, don't you worry none, Weissy," Yang laughed, leaning down to give her a side-armed hug. "We're a lance, yeah? We look out for each other."

"That we do," she replied with a soft smile. Surprisingly, for her, she didn't mind the hug. "So," she continued once Yang stood back up. "What was the rest of the good news?"

" _Wellll_ ," Ruby drawled with a humorous glint to her silver eyes. "The Captain gave us off duty for the night, though we have to stick to base… Figured we'd all hang out here overnight and watch some movies."

Weiss let out a small laugh, touched by the gesture. "I think that would be wonderful."

"You say that now," Blake warned with a smirk. "Wait until you hear the movie selection they brought. Unfortunately, the sisters tend to share the same bad taste."

"Same  _awesome_  taste, you mean!" Yang declared excitedly. "Check it out, we got the full run of the  _Mechwarrior: Blood Money_  series!"

"Oh, joy," Weiss intoned dryly. The series was extraordinarily cheesy, poorly acted, and full of inane one-liners. The only thing the Mercenary suite had going for it was remarkably decent battles, computer-generated for the most part.

Still, it would be fun to watch them with her lance, her new friends.

Maybe even her new family were she to be honest with herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Hey, we got some POV from Weiss for a change. Plus a sweet new ride. In fact, I think we'll continue with Weiss next chapter, just for kicks…
> 
> Stay shiny!


	8. Chapter 8

Gamma Base  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

Weiss let out a soft sigh as she shrugged off her green coveralls in the gymnasium changing room. She'd been returned to duty earlier that day, and while the lance had taken part in another patrol, they had not encountered any of the enemy.

Fortunately, it still gave her some time to become adjusted to her new 'Mech. After some discussion, it was jointly declared within the lance that there was no reason not to name the Griffin after her old Stinger, and so the new  _Myrtenaster_  was christened.

It was bigger, to be sure, and it only took a short while to dispel the sensation of walking around with weights on her feet. It would likely take more time to adjust to the fact that she could actually handle a few hits to her armor without much worry.

As to her weaponry, well… A rather evil smirk crossed her features at the thought of getting to use  _Myrtenaster's_  new large laser and LRM rack upon a hapless foe.

Ruby and herself had put their heads together the previous evening to adjust their strategies as a lance in order to accommodate for the increased firepower.

And that made her let out another soft sigh.

Her head seemed to be filled with the vision of twin pools of liquid silver more often than not. She was no flighty teenager to engage in such fancy, to entertain the notion of crushes and other such ridiculous frivolities.

And yet here she was, mooning over her lance leader.

"I'm hopeless," she muttered angrily, tugging on the strings of her athletic shoes. She stood and stretched, ensuring that her sports bra and shorts were adjusted, before exiting the changing room.

On a nearby training mat, Blake was waiting for her with the air of unending patience, as if she would be there no matter how long it took her lancemate to arrive.

"Thank you for this," the platinum-haired woman began as she strode out onto the mat. "I haven't sparred in quite some time, I'm afraid my skills have atrophied."

"Well, let's consider this both a warmup and a lesson, then," Blake smiled. "I'm sure we have different moves we could teach each other."

"Quite right." She set herself into a ready stance, waiting for Blake to do the same. The Cat Faunus was garbed similarly, though her own stance was a bit different, leaning more on her toes and evenly balanced.

Once they exchanged nods, each woman moved in with a flurry of blows.

Weiss leaned to the side slightly, using her forearm to block a punch. She tried to use a kick with her off-leg, but it was just as easily deflected to the side. A spin-kick from Blake was dodged just in time, but the follow-up punch landed squarely in her gut, staggering her backward and onto her ass.

"Ooof," she gasped, clutching at her midsection.

Blake strode forward to crouch at her side. "Erm… are you okay?"

She could only nod as she continued to try and find the ability to adequately breathe again.

The raven-haired woman smirked slightly as she sat back on her haunches. "I can tell it's been a while for you, but still, the way you move… You tend to weather an attack, to block rather than deflect, correct?"

Weiss nodded again, finally able to suck in a lungful of air. "Yes," she squeaked out.

Her friend's smirk blossomed briefly into a full grin. "I see. As for myself… I try to use an opponent's strength and attacks against them. Move with their actions, deflect but immediately counterattack, sort of… Well, my old instructor called it  _The Way of the River_ , which honestly sounds far more elegant than it actually is."

The Steiner native let out a soft chuckle. "I think I understand the principle, though. Can you show me? Once I'm able to stand again, of course."

"Of course."

As Weiss sat there, her thoughts returned to her earlier musings. "Say, Blake…?"

"Mmm?"

Chewing on her lip, she decided that she may as well take the plunge, if in an oblique way. "How do Remnanters view… well… relationships?"

"Hmm." Blake sat back further onto the mat, crossing her legs before her. "Well, much like most people do, with some… exceptions… Were you perhaps wondering about sexual preferences?"

"Oh, well, I mean… certainly, I was a bit curious…"

"It's usually not an issue." The other woman ran a hand through her dark tresses. "For me, personally, I tend to prefer men, but as a general rule, we're pretty open."

"I see."

"If I recall correctly…" Her amber eyes took on an unfocused look. "I'm fairly certain Yang stuck with women throughout school, while Ruby… Mmm, fairly certain she had a girlfriend or two. At least that I can remember, you'd have to ask them."

"Oh, no, quite alright, that was very informative, thank you…"

"So…" Blake leaned forward, her amber eyes twinkling mischievously. "Who do you have your sights set on?"

"I don't… I mean, certainly not… I wasn't implying…"

The Cat Faunus giggled merrily as she leaned back again. "Well, answer me this, then. Hypothetically."

"Sure, hypothetically," Weiss answered cautiously.

"Is it me?"

"Hypothetically, no," she returned flatly.

"Ah, well, then… good."

"Good?"

"You're not my type, Weiss." The raven-haired woman shot her a wink as she got to her feet. "I consider you to be a close friend by now, certainly, but you're entirely too bossy for my tastes."

" _Bossy?!_ " she practically shrieked incredulously, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet as well. "I am not… I am not  _bossy!_ "

"Mmhmm. You keep telling yourself that."

"You know," Weiss began crossly as she set herself into a ready stance once more. "I do believe I liked it better when you talked less."

"Yes, dear."

* * *

The lunch line was pleasantly short by the time Weiss arrived, freshly showered and clothed in her coveralls once more. She moved forward, humming under her breath until she got to the front of the line.

"Yes, I'd like a medium-rare Anduran steak with a nice New Avalon wine, if you please."

The woman behind the counter, heavy-set and with steely grey hair, just looked at her oddly as she handed over a tray filled with something that could possibly be rehydrated beef, a soupy broth which would, if memory served, taste vaguely of potatoes, and a square loaf of bread which could quite likely do some serious damage to a light 'Mech were it hurled in their direction.

"You seem pretty chipper today," a voice laughed from the rear.

She turned to grin at the woman standing behind her, feathery green hair over a set of eyes of a darker green and grease-stained cheeks.

"Oh, hello, Reese," she greeted the Mechtech. "Well, yes, I suppose I am. I had a very rigorous sparring session with Blake today, I forgot how much I enjoy the activity."

"Sounds like fun," the other woman chuckled, accepting her own tray. With one hand, she adjusted the arms of the coveralls wrapped around her waist before tucking her dark purple tank top back into her belt line, while the other balanced the tray that she eyed warily. "Say, do you suppose I could take these rolls and use them as divots in the arm actuator I'm repairing?"

"I daresay they may be a suitable replacement," she joked back. They waved at each other before turning in opposite directions. Weiss paused, searching about until she found a short bob of red-tipped brunette hair.

Ruby was already seated, waving her hands about animatedly as she conversed with Neon. The orange-haired girl was laughing merrily, thoroughly engaged with the story as her furry tail swished happily in the air behind her.

She felt a little clenching in her chest at the sight of the two of them together, which caused her to let out another soft sigh.

 _Dammitall. Well, that cinches it,_  she declared to herself.  _I'm definitely falling for her._

With a shake of her head, she scanned the room further before her pale blue gaze rested on the table that Reese had joined. The lance's four Mechtechs were there, conversing easily.

 _I should join them_. She'd been working diligently on pushing aside the elitism that had been ingrained at a young age, and while she was on friendly terms with the support staff, she kept meaning to spend more time with them outside of their duties.

As she turned towards that table, however, one more glance across the room showed her that Ruby had noticed her presence. The brunette was excitedly waving her over, even Neon offering her a friendly smile.

_Oh, hell. What's the worst that could happen? I mean, besides my making an idiot of myself…_

And so she calmly walked forward, greeting each woman with a smile. "Good afternoon, how is the… er… meat today?"

"Is it meat?" Neon picked the brown slab up off of her plate, eyeing it with her tongue poking out disdainfully. "I thought maybe it was fossilized gravy."

Weiss smiled good-naturedly as she sat down with her tray, listening to the other two women as they began to debate the possible other iterations of the barely-edible substance.

* * *

Forward Base  
White Fang Mercenary Battalion  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

The door to the bivouac slammed open, a dark-fatigued man striding through and dropping a neurohelmet into a chair while sliding on a pair of dark red sunglasses.

"Status," he barked.

"Oh, uh, yes sir," his adjutant stammered, scurrying over to the table where the map was continuously updated. "So, operations have generally been successful, we've certainly whittled down their numbers. As far as our own casualties go, we've lost some pilots, captured by the Capellans… We're actually more short on pilots than we are of 'Mechs at the moment…"

"Hmm." The Major tapped his hand on the table thoughtfully. He didn't regret his standing orders of not taking any prisoners, they fought to kill their enemy, not simply disable their Battlemechs. If they ejected, well, there was little to do about that. But until that was the case, each of his Mechwarriors pursued an enemy until they were destroyed. Utterly.

Fear made for an excellent deterrent.

"And what about this sector?" he queried, pointing towards a certain troublesome base that had yet to fall.

"Er, well… we lost three 'Mechs there today, a Phoenix Hawk, a Wasp, and a Griffin… But we did inflict some casualties. Two Stingers and a Vindicator were destroyed."

"And… that one lance?"

"Well, it's hard to tell, sir. We've as of yet been able to identify them, there's nothing special that we can ascertain… It's possible, though, that one of the destroyed Stingers came from them."

"Hmm, good, good… What of the overall numbers? And any movement from the capital?"

"We estimate the Capellan Regulars have lost approximately a full Battalion by this point, meaning there is still another Battalion's worth of 'Mechs out in the field, give or take, but they're scattered. So far as the capital goes, no movement there, they seem content to hole up in their defensive postures."

"Excellent…" Taurus grinned widely as his fingers drummed on the map. "Things are going entirely to plan…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Whaaat is this, Dongyrn writing a possible White Rose? Is this a sign of the apocalypse, or has she just lost more of her marbles? I ain't telling. Note, I am trying not to actually play the Useless Lesbian trope for Weiss here. She's a grown-ass woman who is just hesitant to enact on her feelings, especially within a team she's become close with and with her technically superior military officer. (They tend to frown on such things.)
> 
> Ok, so, I've got a pretty good battle sequence lined up for the next chapter. Till next time!
> 
> Stay shiny!


	9. Chapter 9

Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

"This is idiotic," Yang grumbled over the lance's shared comm channel.

"I know, Yang," the brunette lance leader retorted with no small amount of irritation.

"I mean," the blonde continued, "can the brass possibly  _be_  any more incompetent?"

"Oh, I'm sure they could," Blake drawled unconcernedly. "Give them time."

"That is not encouraging," Weiss interjected.

"Look, just can it, ok?" Ruby broke in. "I know, I get it, this sucks all kinds of ass, but we're here now…"

"Facing an unknown number of opponents…" Weiss murmured.

"...And we've got good position, even if we have poor intel," Ruby continued without acknowledging the interruption. "Just keep your eyes on your sensors, we should be able to scan them before they're on us."

"Still, it'd be nice to know who we're actually fighting," Blake stated softly. "The Captain didn't have any answers, boss?"

"No, nothing," the brunette lance leader sighed. "That enemy Mechwarrior we captured was whisked off to Battalion HQ and we've heard nothing since. He's gonna keep asking, though."

"Useless brass…" Yang grumbled once more. Ruby decided to just let it slide this time, as she really couldn't fault them in their opinions.

Rose Lance was perched up on a ridge, just at the border of another jumble of boulders and rocks that the enemy would have to navigate through to reach them. The trick of it, of course, was that they'd need to take them apart piecemeal before they could be swarmed under, assuming they were facing more than just an equivalent lance of 'Mechs.

"Movement," Weiss suddenly broke in on Ruby's musings. The brunette grinned at that, happy that another benefit of the bigger Griffin was the expanded sensor suite compared to their 20-ton Battlemechs. "I see… right, multiple targets, seems to be two full lances, I think… mostly lights and mediums?"

"Bearing?"

"Four-two-eight-nine."

"Right, so, directly in front… Ok, guys, let's go play. Weiss, you stay on overwatch?"

"Affirmative," the platinum-haired Mechwarrior returned eagerly. "Just make sure you send some fun my way."

"Roger that!" Yang laughed as she set off, weaving in between the boulders. Blake set off as well down the middle while Ruby took the right flank.

The benefit of their previous position was that, due to the terrain, they knew the enemy was coming.

But the enemy had no idea of their presence. And so, it was time for a little ambushing.

Ruby edged her Locust around a corner, spying a Commando creeping along cautiously. This variant didn't carry as many missiles as the 2D, instead, the COM-1B sported a larger laser array. Which wouldn't do it a bit of good at the moment as it was turned away from Ruby's position.

She sprang forward,  _Crescent Rose_  clearing the space in no time at all to slam into the other 'Mech. It was only five tons heavier, with just as little armor, so even as it stumbled to the side, she opened up great breaches into its backside with her laser and machine guns. As the Commando tried to turn and get its bearings, Ruby circled, peppering her target's back with fire until it began to break apart. The pilot ejected just before the fusion reactor triggered, sending debris flying about.

"Scratch one Commando," she reported eagerly, ducking back around a corner in case one of the enemy came to investigate his comrade's panicked reports.

"Got one as well," Yang reported. "Another Wasp."

"Just took down a pair of Locusts," Weiss chimed in cheerfully. "Honestly, I had to hesitate for a brief second, were it not for the paint job-"

"I need assistance!" Blake broke in urgently. "Three medium 'Mechs swarming me!"

"On my way," Ruby reported. Yang copied the sentiment as she sent  _Crescent Rose_  into a sprint towards where her HUD told her Blake was currently.

Once she arrived, she was immediately in the thick of things. Ruby plowed headlong into the back of a Phoenix Hawk, causing the 45-ton 'Mech to stumble into Yang's missile salvo which snapped his head backward. The two of them quickly finished that Battlemech off in time to engage the other pair of medium 'Mechs harassing Blake's Stinger.  _Gambol Shroud_  was missing her right arm along with the medium laser by that point, leaving her only able to use her considerable agility to dodge attacks and a single antipersonnel machine gun.

Ruby turned her attention to the 40-ton Vulcan, an odd, spindly 'Mech designed to be primarily anti-infantry. It sported a light sniper autocannon, a medium laser, a machine gun, and a flamer which could affect a Battlemech's heat levels. However, the hand that should have ended in the autocannon was melted off, courtesy of Blake's earlier efforts.

Her Locust circled around, trying to remain on her opponent's flank as she began to pour fire into it. The Vulcan spun in place, desperate to keep its torso-mounted weapons in range, but it wasn't long before Ruby's marksmanship paid off with small explosions within the medium laser's housing.

With the main threat disabled, the Locust charged in, nimbly stepping to the side to avoid both the clumsy swipe of the 'Mech's hand and the follow-up machine gun barrage. The flamer, though, washed a gout of fire across her, momentarily blinding her viewport and causing sweat to bead on her forehead.

"None of that, now," she grunted. Relying on her innate sense of balance, she pushed forward, knocking into the bigger 'Mech and sending it off-balance enough to gain some separation. More laser fire peppered the Vulcan's torso until additional explosions indicated the loss of the remainder of its weaponry.

At that, the 40-ton 'Mech turned and fled the scene of the battle.

Ruby was happy to let him go, now able to help Yang and Blake out with the remaining Battlemech, a 45-ton Vindicator with an array of lasers, a PPC, and an LRM rack. By the time she got there, it was already in dire straights, missing its arm with the PPC, but once she began pouring fire into its backside the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

As the dust settled, the enemy 'Mech having exploded without any indication of a pilot ejection, Ruby blew out a relieved breath. "Weiss, status?"

"Blocked another 'Mech from advancing," she reported calmly. "An Enforcer. I lost some armor, but I convinced it to go play somewhere else, it took off on your left flank. Pretty sure I disabled both of his main weapons."

"Ok, nice job, I'll go see if I can't track that one down… Yang you do another sweep to the other side, Blake, go up and keep Weiss company. You know how she gets lonely."

"I heard that," the platinum-haired woman interjected humorously.

Ruby just giggled lightly as the three 'Mechs separated. Her Locust carefully wove along the boulders, searching for the wounded Enforcer.

"C'mon, little buddy, I just wanna give you a nice send-off, make sure you're leaving the area like you should…" The brunette's silver eyes lit up when her screen warned her of a nearby heat signature. "Ohhh, looks like you hit some heatsinks as well, Weiss, it's dumping out a lot of heat…"

As she accelerated, flying around the bend to catch her opponent off-guard, her screen was filled with a very different profile than that of a 50-ton Enforcer.

Both arms of the 'Mech ended in long tubes from the elbow down, typical of PPC mountings. Each torso held a cluster of weapons, a medium laser, a small laser, and a machine gun. Up on the right shoulder perched a six-port SRM launcher, while on the left was a massive searchlight, making this particular 'Mech a very deadly night fighter. And if all that wasn't indication enough of just how royally Ruby was now screwed, the head set deep into the shoulders bore a particularly grim look to it, as if death itself had come to pass judgment on the battlefield.

It was a 70-ton Warhammer, and the sight of it made Ruby lose a little bit of control over her bladder. A fact which, honestly, she couldn't summon a hint of embarrassment about.

"I'm in trouble!" she screamed in her comms, continuing her race but at an oblique path to carry her far, far away from the deadly gunslinger. "Warhammer!"

She never heard the response from her lance, as before she could escape, twin argent beams of particle energy washed across her legs, severing them above the knee. Her Locust, unfortunately, kept the momentum going forward and rolled several times along the ground, trailing debris and broken components until it came to a smoking rest, upright but tilted slightly, against another large boulder.

Ruby groaned as she struggled to regain her bearings. She let out a sharp gasp of pain, though, as she tried to move her left arm. She glanced down, seeing it bent at an unnatural angle right in the middle of her forearm. Fortunately, the bone had not broken the skin.

"Ow," she whimpered, pulling her neurohelmet off with one hand and struggling with her harness. "Owie, ow, ow, fucking owww…"

The brunette Mechwarrior managed to pull herself up and out of the seat, holding on to her other arm gingerly. Everything was dark, the fusion engine having shut down on its own and leaving her without any readings at all. She was pretty damn sure, though, that it would have been pointless anyway, as  _Crescent Rose_  was well and truly trashed. A few stamps of her feet confirmed that the dorsal exit wasn't going to open for her, either.

"Well, no reason why this should be easy for me…"

She struggled to reach the upper hatch, managing to wrest it open a few inches at a time. Her efforts doubled as she could sense rhythmic vibrations which were growing stronger, indicative of an approaching 'Mech.

"C'mon, c'mon, just a little bit more…" She groaned in pain once again as she pulled herself up and halfway out of the hatch, squirming as she tried to clear the portal. Her eyes widened as she saw just how close the behemoth 'Mech was to her now, and as one arm was leveled her way, she was treated to the view of a gun she could easily stand up inside.

"Oh, fuck  _me_ ," she groaned, unable to pull herself out in time to clear the ruined 'Mech.

But then, just as the interior of the PPC began to glow an ominous blue, explosions raced across the back of its other side. There was a mighty  _thunk_  as the Warhammer's left arm was severed at the elbow, and it turned slowly, almost as if incredulous at the offense.

Ruby was amazed to see a pair of light hovertanks scream in, circling the Battlemech and harrying it with more short-ranged missile fire. The 70-ton 'Mech clumsily tried to turn and engage with its smaller lasers and machine guns, but after a few passes, the armored vehicles departed without suffering any damage.

The same could not be said for the Warhammer, which was smoking from several strikes all around its body. And that's when the most beautiful sight in the universe greeted her.

A Griffin and a Wasp rocketed in on jump jets, slamming heavy fire into the already-damaged 'Mech. It staggered backward, smoke pouring out of the remains of its SRM launcher. Meanwhile, a familiar one-armed Stinger came to a skidding halt, crouched next to the husk of the Locust with its one good hand extended.

Ruby shakily pulled herself the rest of the way out and dropped gratefully into the waiting hand.

"Hang on!" Blake's voice called out over  _Gambol Shroud's_  external speakers.

She did the best she could, clutching her injured arm close to her body as she was jostled about by the Battlemech's giant strides. Just as they rounded the corner, Ruby caught sight of the Warhammer going up in a detonation and let out a fierce cheer.

Her good mood vanished once Blake skidded to a halt again. She was pitched forward onto her arm, and with a sharp scream, blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Yeah, these are fairly short chapters, aren't they? Some will be longer than others, but I have the feeling most will be right about this length.
> 
> So, poor Ruby got smacked big-time. You do not want to go up against a Warhammer by yourself in a light 'Mech. It will not go well. Next up, let's check in on Ruby's condition, whether or not she'll get a new ride, and see if she can find out who those mysterious hovertanks belonged to. Till next time!
> 
> Shout-out to my lovely reviewers, and apologies for not responding to any of said reviews this week, life got away from me once again...
> 
> Stay shiny!


	10. Chapter 10

Gamma Base Infirmary  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

Ruby slowly opened her eyes, peering blearily around the room from the bed where she now found herself. She felt rather groggy and disoriented, with a dull ache all over her body that seemed to travel up to her temples. Her surroundings, though, were a familiar enough scene from when she and the rest of her lance spent the night at the infirmary, the pale green walls matching the flimsy gown she now wore. A brief inspection revealed her left arm to be in a cast, as well as the presence of a trio of familiar figures standing in the corner, whispering amongst themselves.

"Don't you guys have jobs or something?" she joked weakly, her voice thin and scratchy.

"Hello yourself," Weiss smiled as she rounded the other side of the bed by her cast. "Gave us a bit of a scare, you were out of it for almost a day."

"Well, y'know, getting the pee scared outta me can do that."

"I can only imagine," Blake murmured with a smile of her own.

"We made sure to dispose of your coveralls, hide the evidence," Yang smirked with a wink as she offered her sister a cup of water with a straw. "They were pretty much trashed anyway after they had to cut the sleeve off."

Ruby coughed out a laugh before taking a long pull of water. "Ahhh, oh man, that feels good on my throat. Okay, so, what's our status?"

"Nu-uh, you're supposed to be resting," Yang declared firmly. "Don't you worry about anything, Arslan is taking care of us."

"Oh she is?" the brunette chuckled good-naturedly. "Watch out, she'll likely mother you all, make you start washing behind your ears."

"I heard that!" a cheery voice called out from the hallway.

Ruby sighed and let her head flop back with a grin. "Arslan, stop lurking and come tell me what these insolent women won't. What's our status?"

The silver-haired woman sauntered in with an easy smile, looking around at the other three. "Now, you all know she won't rest until she gets what she wants."

"Damn straight. Now, gimme."

"Alright, alright… So, minor damage to Weiss' Griffin, I'll need some time to repair the LRM launcher. Other than that, Blake's Stinger needed a new arm, we salvaged one that worked well enough, it's already back in action. And some armor patching…"

Ruby closed her eyes wearily. "And my Locust?" she whispered.

She felt Weiss' small hand rest on her shoulder before Arslan somberly replied. "I'm sorry, Ruby."

"Right…" She willed herself not to get emotional about it, it was just a Battlemech… But dammitall, it was her  _baby_  and carried her through so many skirmishes and patrols over the past year...

"I know, Ruby," Arslan murmured. "I know. But… I've started piecing together a 45-ton Phoenix Hawk for you, it's a PXH-1D variant, should be able to do a stock loadout with the large laser and dual medium lasers, extra heat sinks… plus the jump jets…"

"Good, that's... " Her eyes shot open with a groan. "Wait,  _jump jets_? Fucking hell…"

"What's wrong with jump jets?" Weiss inquired curiously.

"I just…" Ruby sighed as she rubbed at her temple with her usable hand. "I gotta relearn how to use them all over again, it's been over a year, y'know…"

Yang let out a soft snort. "You'll live. Look, me an' Blakey, we gotta go do a patrol, okay? But we'll be back later on tonight, maybe bring some more movies with us."

"Of which I shall be choosing," Blake declared with a smile. "Get some rest, boss."

"Ok, guys, thanks… Oh, hey, really quick. That reminds me." Ruby cleared her throat as her gaze flickered around her lancemates. "So, I should have thought to do this before but… I need to choose someone to, y'know, act in my stead when I'm like this, so… I'd like to have Weiss be my second and back me up when I'm all groggy from painkillers. Which I really, really hope I'm getting some more of, 'cause this is starting to hurt like a bitch."

"No problem, boss," Yang grinned, giving both Ruby and Weiss a nod. "Be happy to take orders from Weiss in your place, she's got a good head on her shoulders."

"Mmm," Blake nodded in agreement as the two Mechwarriors made their way out of the room. "I concur."

Arslan turned to head out as well. "I'll go find a doctor and ask about more painkillers, you take care, okay, hun?"

"You bet, thanks, Arslan."

There was a moment of silence in the room before Weiss cleared her throat gently.

"Er… I'm honored, truly, at your faith in me…"

"Well, like I said before, you're a tactical genius," Ruby grinned widely. "And I trust you to figure out what I would want you guys to do."

"Are you sure about that?" Weiss asked archly. "Because honestly, there are times I have no idea where you get some of your ideas."

The brunette's giggles in response to that were interrupted by a shooting pain to her head. She let out a groan, rubbing at her temple. "I could really use those pain meds," she muttered.

"Want me to go see what's keeping the doctor?"

"No, no, it's okay, I'd… rather you stay, please?"

Weiss was about to head for the door but then stopped, a small but contented smile on her face. "Very well." Instead, she pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and sat down.

"You sure?" Ruby asked quietly. "Don't have anything more important to take care of?"

The platinum-haired woman shook her head slowly. "No, I was planning on remaining here in any case while  _Myrtenaster_  is being worked on."

"Okay… thanks."

"You are most welcome."

They shared another smile before the doctor finally arrived, looking rather harried.

"My apologies for the delay," he began hurriedly, flipping through a paper chart. "So, Miss Rose… Obviously, you suffered a broken arm as well as some blood loss…"

"Blood loss?" Ruby broke in with a confused frown.

"Well, yes, from your arm, it was a compound fracture."

"But it wasn't… Ohhhh…" Understanding began to dawn upon her. "When I was jolted in the hand of Blake's 'Mech."

"She feels quite badly about that, by the way," Weiss murmured. "When you have a moment, you should reassure her."

"Gotcha, thanks," she whispered back.

"In any case, we ruled out a concussion, though you were unable to retain consciousness, the impact to your head was not terribly severe… I do believe the worst of that has passed."

"Okay," Ruby nodded. "And what about some pain meds, Doctor…?"

"Oh, apologies again. I'm Dr. Mereck, though I'm off-duty within the next hour. Yes, yes, I'll have a nurse in here… Aha, here we go."

As he spoke, a matronly woman showed up with a drip-bag of clear liquid that she hooked up to her bed, much to Ruby's surprise. She hadn't paid attention to the fact that she had an IV in her.

"Well, willya lookit that," she mumbled. "Didn't even notice."

"To be fair, you  _are_  a bit out of it," Weiss conceded.

"Right, then, if you need anything else, just call for a staff member." With that, the doctor and nurse both departed. Ruby turned her head, willing the slowly dripping liquid to hurry up and work.

"What would you like to talk about?" her lancemate imposed upon her musings.

"Oh, well…" Ruby turned her head once again to meet a pair of pale blue eyes, suddenly very grateful for the distraction. "How about you? I mean, like, where you're from, and…" She cleared her throat nervously. "I'd heard a little bit about maybe… your family, and something in the Skye region…?"

"Hmm, yes…" Weiss looked down at her entwined hands in her lap with a pensive frown on her face. "Tell you what… You first. Tell me who Ruby Rose is and where she came from… and then I'll tell you about the Schnees."

"Well, alright, then." The brunette closed her eyes briefly, pleased that she was finally about to get her recalcitrant lancemate to open up some. "Let's see… Well, obviously, I come from Remnant, it's a primarily agricultural world with some light industry, but overall, pretty tranquil, y'know? I was born on an island called Patch, mostly retired Mechwarriors and fishing, though it's home to one of the main prep schools on the planet."

"Prep schools?" Weiss broke in. Ruby opened her eyes to meet the other woman's inquisitive look. "I'm guessing they aren't the same as the prep schools I am used to."

"No, I imagine not," she laughed softly. "Not like the prep schools for the nobility or anything, these are schools for training Mechwarriors. We had normal schooling, math and science and universal history, up until we were sixteen, and then we entered the Mechwarrior training program."

"At sixteen?"

"Well, it's a natural career patch for Remnanters. Not all of us, of course, some folk want nothing to do with it or prefer the agriculture field, there's a couple of specialized prep schools for that industry, learning how to farm and drive an AgroMech… But, yeah." She knew her silver eyes were shining as earnestly as they ever were when she discussed the topic. "I've wanted to be a Mechwarrior all my life. My mom, my dad… even my stepmom and uncle, my grandparents… all six of 'em… They've all been Mechwarriors. An' now me and Yang are carrying on the tradition, I guess."

"That's… fairly impressive." Weiss shifted in her seat slightly. "You mentioned a stepmom?"

"Oh, yeah, Raven… she's… around here in Capellan space, somewhere. She hasn't really kept up with us…" Ruby grimaced slightly. "You know what? Lemme save my whole family situation for another time, it's… complicated."

"Complicated?"

"Yeah, it really is. But my mom and dad, they're both in the Davion Guards last I heard. It's been, well, almost two years now since I've seen them."

"Oh." The platinum-haired woman blinked her eyes a few times. "I'm sorry."

Ruby shrugged, but immediately regretted the action as it caused all sorts of things to hurt once more. "Ow… No, it's okay, though, I just...I hope I'm doing them proud, y'know?"

"I'm sure you are," Weiss smiled softly. "Any parent would be amazed at what you've accomplished. You do realize you're the youngest noncom officer in the regiment, yes?"

"I… am?"

"Mmhmm. I was doing some research the other day, looking for… my younger brother… when I came across that curious fact. You may even be the youngest in the Regulars."

"Huh. How about that." Ruby gave her friend a small grin then. "So, you have a little brother?"

"Oh, is it my turn already?"

"Yup, I already spilled, so you're up!"

"Very well." Weiss sat up straighter, her hands once more resting in her lap and the same pensive expression on her face. "I was born and raised in the Isle of Skye region in what is now known as the Federation of Skye, on a planet called Thorin. My family was rather well-off, of noble descent, though it was on my mother's side. My father married into it, he was a wealthy Lyran businessman. It was a marriage of convenience, but essentially carried on the Schnee dynasty while making it far more powerful than before."

Her pale blue eyes became cold and distant as she stared off into nothingness, lost in memories of her past. "My older sister, Winter, my younger brother, Whitley, and I were all schooled in politics, business, and warfare in order to fulfill my father's ideals. He was a man who, as I now see it, thought of himself as destined for far greater things, and his offspring were the tools he was going to use to achieve those goals..."

"Wow," Ruby murmured when the platinum-haired Mechwarrior trailed off. "So you're, like, super-smart as well, huh?"

"Stop that," Weiss reproached humorously and with a smirk. "And whatever do you mean, 'as well'?"

"Uhhh I mean, like, in addition to being a really talented Mechwarrior."

"I… see." Weiss cleared her throat, looking off to the side again. "In any case, my sister was the first to see the depths of what our father was willing to sink towards in order to obtain power. He'd always had a preference for Lyrans as far as his business contacts went, but… As it turned out, he was secretly running several mining operations using indentured labor made up of foreign nationalities, even some immigrants to the Commonwealth."

"Indentured… You mean, like, slaves?"

Weiss nodded briefly, unable to meet her lance leader's eyes. "When Winter found out, she took the ancestral Battlemech, a 65-ton Crusader, and departed for space unknown. She left me a message informing me of father's… crimes… and that she was going to find a mercenary company to join somewhere." She sighed softly, her voice trailing off to a murmur. "That was the last I'd heard from her, three years ago… I don't really even know if she's still alive, but I'd like to think so…"

"Well, if she's half as good as you are, I'm sure she's doing just fine," Ruby offered, trying to be reassuring.

It must have helped somewhat as Weiss offered her a brief smile. "I'm sure she is. In any case, I had a difficult time believing it, and as I was only eighteen and just starting my Mechwarrior training, there was little I could do. I continued to blindly trust in him, for the sake of my mother, who was more often than not drowning her sorrows in New Avalon wine, and for my brother, who was a year younger than me but unable to escape any more than I was."

"You kinda make it sound like it was a prison for you."

"In a way, it was." Weiss shifted in her seat again, as if uncomfortable with the subject. "I was paraded around to his business partners, military allies, and political cronies as a trophy, a display of his legacy. I was taught to be perfect, to never display weakness, to… to always uphold the Schnee ideals."

She sighed and crossed her arms in front of her. "When Winter left, that intensified, as if he could prevent any more desertions through sheer force of will. I was publicly declared to be the Heiress to the Schnee dynasty, but it was just a sham, he fully intended to marry me off for more money and influence."

Ruby sat there quietly for a full minute of silence before she dared to break it. "What happened?" she asked softly.

Weiss stirred as if from a deep dream, uncrossing her arms and primly folding her hands once more in her lap. "Six months ago... my father was taken into custody for treason."

"Um… well, shit."

"Indeed. Everything came crashing down, how he'd been plotting with several people to create a separatist nation, to pull Skye away from the Lyran Commonwealth through revolution rather than by peaceful political methods, as well as the illegal mining operations that funneled money into his separatist efforts. The interesting part is that everything seemed to implicate nobility much higher up in the chain, possibly even as far as the Duke of Summer, but my father was one of the 'bought' nobility, not inherited, and as such was disposable. Once he was implicated everything fell apart… and I knew it was time to finally escape."

"Out to here, to Liao space?"

"Well, I certainly couldn't remain in Lyran territory," Weiss answered bitterly. "My name now carried a dark miasma about it. Fortunately, there was a servant there… a dear old friend… He helped me board a freighter to the planet Bryant in the Tikonov Commonality, and from there I enlisted in the Capellan military." She smiled wanly. "Starting my life anew from the bottom."

"And your brother?"

"I was unable to see him before I left, though the servant who helped me, Klein, promised to pass a message along to him regarding where I had gone."

Ruby nodded slowly, her eyelids becoming heavier by the second. "Well… I hope you can find him again…"

Laughing softly, Weiss rested her hand on Ruby's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Why don't you get some rest, hmm?"

"Okay… you'll be here when I wake?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

"M'kay, well… thanks… for sharing with me, Weiss…"

The last thing she heard was Weiss' voice, soft but with an odd sort of wistfulness to it.

"You are most welcome, Ruby."

* * *

A few days later and Ruby was on her feet once more, eager to finally get out of the hospital bed she'd begun to despise. The fact that her arm remained in a cast meant that she couldn't climb scaffolding to sync up with her new Battlemech, but that would come soon enough.

The link between a Mechwarrior and a Battlemech isn't something made casually. The neurohelmet takes precise tuning to work with the brainwaves of a Mechwarrior, and while a pilot could certainly toss on a helmet and ride any 'Mech they so desired, capabilities would be severely limited were they not properly synced through the sensitive instrumentation operated by Mechtechs. And, of course, many Mechwarriors locked their 'Mech to their own brainwaves, a surefire way to prevent anyone from fully operating their ride. While a technician could operate it in a limited capacity, backing it in or out of a Mechbay, to access the weapons systems and the full range of motions would require the linked pilot.

For now, however, Ruby was just enjoying the fact that she could move around outside of the infirmary. Her constant companion for her convalescence, Weiss, was walking with her. The platinum-haired woman had spent much of her waking hours in Ruby's company as they shared stories of home and of their early days piloting 'Mechs. Right now, though, she walked alongside with her hands clasped behind her back, looking up at the towering Battlemechs arrayed about the hangar.

"I've been thinking…" she began with a slight frown.

"You have, have you?' Ruby joked. "Dangerous stuff, there, better watch it."

"Oh, hush, you," Weiss replied with a grin and a sideways glance. "I was thinking about getting my hair cut."

"Really?"

"Mmhmm, really. Maybe down to my shoulders, or my chin line… I've had the same hairstyle since I was a child, perhaps it is time for a change."

"No time like the present, wanna go see the barber on base?"

Weiss paused, eyebrows climbing up on her forehead. "Now?"

"Why not?"

"Why not indeed… Very well, then, let's do it!"

They shared a grin as they turned to leave the bay back towards the service areas. Before they did, however, Weiss pulled them to a halt. "Oh, you were inquiring about that tanker crew from earlier… I do believe that is them now."

Looking over to where Weiss was indicating with a raised chin, she saw a cluster of three women and a single male laughing together while standing near a pair of very familiar hovertanks. They were light vehicles, 25-ton Harassers, each holding a pair of heavy SRM launchers in a turret. She nodded, changing course towards the group while Weiss trailed behind.

The conversation came to a halt as they turned towards the approaching Mechwarrior. One, an older woman around Arslan's age with a shock of purple hair and the insignia of a Warrant Officer, took a step forward. "Can I help you with something, Mechwarrior?" she asked deferentially.

"Hi, there! So, I'm Ruby Rose, and I think you guys saved my life the other day, against that Warhammer?"

"Oh, yes I do remember," the woman answered with a smile.

"Sooo I just wanted to say thanks, and get to know you guys!"

The purple-haired woman looked to be a bit startled at that but then began to smile widely. "You are quite welcome, Ruby Rose. I'm Warrant Officer Nebula Violette, this here," she pointed to a woman with long blonde hair and a friendly smile, "is my gunner Dew Gayl. And then we have the crew of our second Harasser, this is Nolan Porfirio and his gunner May Zedong."

The male, with dark red hair and angular features, nodded amicably, while the girl sitting next to him on the hull of a Harasser seemed to be a bit shyer. She had dusky rose hair that she hid behind a low-slung service cap of olive green that matched her coveralls.

Her grin widening, Ruby stepped forward to shake each of their hands. "I'm super happy to meet you guys. Oh, hey, this is my lancemate and second, Weiss Schnee!"

"A pleasure," Weiss offered with a smile and nod.

"You're not like most Mechwarriors," Gwen broke in with a wry grin. "They don't usually take the time to talk to us tanker support."

"Yeah, well, I'm not like most Mechwarriors," Ruby laughed.

"A truer statement has never been spoken," Weiss murmured.

Ruby shot her a bemused look before turning back to the Harasser crewers. "So, you guys eat in the cafeteria too, right? Next time you see me, come join, okay? I'll introduce you to the rest of the lance!"

"Well… okay, then," Nebula replied, looking a little perplexed. "We just might take you up on that."

"Awesome! Well, we gotta go, so… catch you guys around! And thanks again!"

With that, the pair of Mechwarriors resumed their previous mission.

Operation Get Weiss a Haircut was now underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Awww, look, the wee ones are bonding, how cute… Also, we got to meet half of NDGO and half of BRNZ, I always love pulling in the characters from the Vytal Tourney teams. They're criminally underused, IMHO.
> 
> So in update news… Obviously, I skipped a week. I was trying to work on more chapters but failed miserably. Wrote all ten chapters as a buffer and couldn't finish the eleventh in that time. Hopefully, I can get some done over the weekend, but there's a good chance that the regular updates will fall by the wayside for a bit.
> 
> Next up (as soon as I can get to it), another successful mission, hopefully, one where nobody loses a 'Mech this time!
> 
> Stay shiny!


	11. Chapter 11

Gamma Base  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

It was a covert mission, one Rose Lance had never attempted before but could only bring them closer together as a lance and as a team. As a group of tight-knit friends.

"And how do you know this mystery guy?" Yang queried in a whisper, glancing around the unfamiliar hallway.

"I have connections," Weiss answered primly, though with an equally-hushed tone.

"You?" Blake retorted without any malice. "You have connections?"

"Don't make fun of her," Ruby giggled quietly. "This was nice of her to set up for us, you know."

"Oh, no doubt," the Cat Faunus returned with a small smile. "I didn't mean to imply otherwise."

"Hey, Weiss."

"Yes, Yang?"

"Did I tell ya that your hair totally rocks?"

The platinum-haired Mechwarrior turned her head slightly to regard her blonde friend walking a few paces behind her, displaying the side that had been shaved, while her two-inch-long feathery locks swayed gently in the breeze of their passing. "Once or twice, yes," she deadpanned, though her tone was pleased nonetheless.

They were brought to a stop before an unmarked door in between one for laundry supplies and the backup generator for the base's main building.

"Here?" Ruby asked, trying to keep any incredulity out of her voice.

"Here," Weiss confirmed. She stepped up to the metallic door and rapped out a peculiar rhythm. It was answered by two more knocks before she finished the combination with another three. The door then opened slowly, revealing a familiar face.

"Nolan?" the brunette lance leader whispered in disbelief.

He made a shushing noise as the door opened wider to allow them entry. "Not so loud, ok?" the tanker crewman admonished. Instead of his usual fatigues, he wore a ripped pair of burgundy jeans and a blue jacket with a black hood and rolled up black sleeves.

The four girls quickly darted into the dim room, sticking close together while Nolan closed the door behind them. He switched a light on, revealing a set of chairs against the wall, a comfortable-looking couch, and a few shelves stocked with his particular set of tradegoods.

"So how long have you been doing this sort of thing?" Yang asked curiously, looking at the posters on the wall that seemed to exude serenity.

"Well, I've been stationed here for five years now," the auburn-haired man shrugged with a smile, gesturing the ladies further into the room. "But actually doing this? Since I was a teenager, really, learned from my dad."

"That's really cool," Ruby grinned back. "And we really appreciate it, too."

"Well, Weiss here is picking up your tab since it's your first time and everything," Nolan stated genially. "Alright, then. Mani-pedis all around?"

"Absolutely," Weiss replied, having already selected her favorite shade of blue and taken a seat on the far end.

The Harasser pilot nodded, smiling widely. "Then the rest of you, pick out a color and we'll get started!"

* * *

Gamma Base Perimeter  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

The four 'Mechs of Rose Lance were patrolling along the very familiar rocky terrain that bordered the northern edge of their base's territory. They'd had some amount of success ambushing the invaders, though it had been hit-or-miss with the rest of their company, not to mention the other Liao forces.

To date, they'd lost four Battlemechs from their company, including the Mechwarriors. None had managed to make a clean escape. The Captain had survived still and was currently leading the rest of the survivors in a punitive raid against another lance of Mercenaries who were probing their defenses.

Which left Rose Lance and the pair of Harasser hovertanks to keep the border secure.

"Any word from the Captain?" Weiss asked.

"Nothing yet," Ruby answered slowly. "Hey… Northwest sector, any of you guys pick up on a blip?"

"I think… Yes, I see it," Blake replied as she was ranging the furthest out ahead. "Looks like a light 'Mech. Possibly 20 or 25 tons."

"Hmm… Hey, Yang."

The blonde Mechwarrior perked up slightly from her slouch in her cockpit, having relegated herself to a rather boring patrol. "Yeah, boss?" She grinned slightly to herself, it always felt a tad weird to call her little sister by that title, but she didn't mind it, really.

Hell, she couldn't be prouder of the leadership skills that Ruby had demonstrated. Who knew that the awkward, gangly teen from Remnant would grow into such an awesome woman?

The brunette's next words broke her out of her reverie, as playfully as they were delivered. "You wanna go give our new friend some hugs?"

"Do I?" she laughed, swinging her 'Mech's arms around to pound the articulated fists together. "Back in a flash!"

She set _Ember Celica_ into a run, the 20-ton Wasp eating up the ground beneath her as she neared her target on the other side of a jutting ridge. The sensor signature had cleared up now, showing a Stinger of compatible tonnage to her own 'Mech.

_Playtime._

Though she was certain the other 'Mech was aware of her presence, Yang's typical attack strategy usually threw her opponents off-balance anyway. She engaged her jump jets, sailing over the ridge with only a meter to spare and sending a barrage of short-range missiles and a laser blast ahead of her. Sure enough, the enemy 'Mech was staggered by the assault, his own shot going wide.

She landed right in front of the Stinger, only to lean forward and tackle the other 'Mech to the ground.

Yang grinned widely as she reared her fist back to strike the head of her opponent, but before she could, the top of the enemy Battlemech split open so that an ejection seat could shoot out across the landscape, low to the ground as the Stinger had been practically on its back.

Chuckling, Yang rose to her feet. "Hugs delivered, boss. One Stinger down… uh…" She squinted her lilac eyes at a trio of new contacts on her heads-up display. "Oh, hey, his friends just showed up."

"Yes, we noticed," a dry voice interjected. With a blast of hot plasma, Blake's Stinger landed next to her. "Care for some assistance?"

"Always, partner!" the blonde cheered.

Shortly thereafter, a trio of Battlemechs rounded the bend of the canyon they were in. Two were the familiar forms of another Stinger and Wasp, but the third was squat and ungainly, like a Locust that had overeaten.

The 40-ton Cicada was an interesting anomaly. It had been created as an upgraded for the aforementioned Locust, with a similar birdlike torso and by the same manufacturer. However, to get that kind of speed required a far heavier engine, impractically so by some opinions. It was fast, to be sure, but retained the armor of much lighter 'Mechs as well as weaponry that left it outclassed by other Medium Battlemechs, a pair of medium lasers and a single small laser.

Still, it was a formidable opponent for light 'Mechs such as theirs.

With that in mind, Yang took to the air, leaping straight at the larger opponent. The Cicada's pilot twisted to the side to avoid the rush, but that allowed the Wasp to deliver a barrage at its side. The left vestigial 'wing' arm, where the armor was lightest, fell to the ground in an explosion of debris. Blake was right behind her, darting past the 40-ton 'Mech to try and get into its rear arc as she fired at its legs.

The other two light 'Mechs of the mercenary lance, sensing an opportunity, rocketed around to try and box Yang and Blake in between them. Their tactic, while sound, did not take into account the reinforcements they had failed to notice.

A barrage of missiles engulfed the enemy Stinger, courtesy of Weiss' Griffin, leaving it without its right arm and torso, while the follow-up heavy laser blast took out its other side. The pilot ejected shortly thereafter.

The Cicada, which had turned to track Blake, was cored through by the large laser from the Phoenix Hawk that Ruby piloted. The enemy 'Mech sagged to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut as the fusion engine immediately shut down from the massive damage.

And that left a single, rather bewildered Wasp.

Not wanting the other 'Mech to leave the party just yet, Yang charged in and body-checked her opponent. With a deft twist, she grasped the other Wasp's right arm and spun, wrenching it from its socket.

She stood her 'Mech back up again, hefting the limb in her hands consideringly.

As if he knew what was coming, the other pilot began to slowly back his Battlemech up, but could not avoid the backhanded blow from the improvised club which took the unfortunate damaged Wasp's head clean off. It toppled gracelessly to the ground.

Yang regarded the limb once more before dropping it to the ground. "Huh, how about that, I just beat a 'Mech to death with its own arm."

"Why, yes you did," Blake chuckled. "One for the records."

"Hmm." Yang looked at her HUD which showed that Ruby and Weiss had both taken off, apparently to deal with another group of 'Mechs.

"You guys need any help?" she questioned courteously.

"Nah, we're good," Ruby replied, though her voice was a bit strained. "Pair of Mediums, Blackjack and an Enforcer, we're almost done with them."

Blake laughed lightly. "Even tonnage between the four of you? What's taking so long?"

"Oh, you know, I figured Weiss could use the target practice."

"I'm on the channel, you know," Weiss broke in, her voice only slightly irritated.

"Hey," Yang broke in. "You sure you don't need a… _hand?_ "

There was a moment's silence over the comms before Weiss responded, her earlier irritation replaced by incredulity. "Did she just…?"

"Yes," Blake sighed as her Stinger turned its back on Yang and began to head back to rejoin the others. "Yes, she did."

"Oh, you know you all love it," Yang laughed. "All part of my dis _arming_ personality."

" _Yannng_ ," Ruby groaned.

"Do you honestly think you're being clever?" their platinum-haired lancemate queried, humor lacing her words.

"Well, lemme just go out on a _limb_ here…"

"Stop!" both Weiss and Ruby laughed at the same time.

By this point, all four 'Mechs had reunited over the smoldering corpses of a pair of enemy Battlemechs.

"Blake?" Weiss eventually spoke up again. "Are you alright?"

Yang frowned slightly. Her Faunus friend hadn't said anything the last two puns, was she really all that bothered by them?

"I am fine," the reply came eventually. "I merely had to verify the regulations regarding voluntary friendly fire. I'm not willing to risk a possible court-martial."

The other three erupted into laughter at that. "Well, thank the gods for combat recorders," Yang chuckled.

The lance began to move, heading back onto their patrol route close to the base. "You know," Ruby eventually mentioned, her tone studiously casual. "Arslan could tell you how to disable the combat recorder."

"Ruby!" the blonde exclaimed with faux hurt. "You're not helping, here!"

"Just looking out for my lancemates," the brunette replied with a snicker.

"And what am I?" Yang sputtered.

"My sister," Ruby giggled back. "And besides, Blake is nicer to me."

At that, Blake merely let out a pleased hum, though it was barely audible over Weiss' giggles.

"Well, fine," Yang grumbled. "I was even gonna make cookies later today."

"Cookies? Sorry, Blake, you're just been replaced in my list of favorites."

Blake sighed humorously. "Curses, foiled by our fearless leader's sweet tooth."

"It's a weakness, true enough," Ruby answered solemnly.

Their banter was interrupted by a new voice on their comms. "Rose Lance, do you copy?"

"Rose Lance, this is W.O. Rose, we copy," Ruby returned briskly. "How can we assist, Captain?"

"We had a successful engagement," Li Han replied tersely. "Lost two, one survivor escaped, cannot pursue. Heading through your sector, can you engage?"

"Roger that, what are we looking at?"

"Crusader, but heavily damaged."

Yang sucked in a quick breath at that. The 65-ton Crusader was a beast of a machine, sporting a pair of 15-rack LRMs, another pair of heavy SRM launchers, and two medium lasers as well as antipersonnel machine guns. With armor that weighed almost as much as her entire 'Mech, it was a fearsome opponent and one of the most common heavy Battlemechs to be found in the field.

If it was heavily damaged, though, they perhaps had a shot at bringing it down without losing anyone in the process.

"We're on it, Captain!" Ruby promised.

In short order, she had her lance fan out, though within easy reach of each other. They moved across the rocky terrain slowly and carefully, not willing to accidentally come across the heavy 'Mech unawares.

"Contact!" Blake suddenly exclaimed, her voice laden with excitement. "Bearing two-four-seven, 65 tons, that should be our bogey!"

"Alright, form up," Ruby ordered briskly. "Yang and Blake, hit from the flanks. You ready to give more hugs, Yang?"

"You kiddin' me? I'm always ready for more hugs!" Yang swallowed over her dry throat, desperately hoping that the enemy was as badly damaged as they were told.

As it turned out, she had rather overestimated the condition of the Battlemech.

Rose Lance leaped in on jump jets, immediately surrounding the decrepit Crusader, though none of them fired a shot as they took in its state. The left arm was gone entirely while the right was barely hanging on, all four missile launchers having been destroyed. Both legs and the torso were mangled, almost completely stripped of armor, while the head looked to be dented in.

"Dude," Yang breathed. "How are you even standing?"

There was a crackle of static before a slightly panicked voice came across the open channel. "Please, don't shoot! I-I-I give up, all my weapon systems are offline, and my reactor is about fifteen minutes away from shutting down on me!"

"Okay, relax," Ruby replied soothingly. "We're not gonna fire. What's your name, Mechwarrior?"

Yang idly noted that Weiss was on the company comms, requesting a Harasser for prisoner transport.

"Alex… er, Alex Northrop."

"Hey, what outfit are you with, Alex?" Yang interjected curiously.

"Mercs, right?" Ruby added.

"Yeah, yeah… Um, our outfit is called the White Fang, our commanding officer is… Well, the Major's pretty hard but, um, the pay is good. Who are you guys?"

"Us?" Ruby laughed. "We're Rose Lance, best damn recon outfit in the Liao Regulars."

"No kiddin'?" Alex cleared his throat nervously. "Um, hey… d'you think you could report my 'Mech as destroyed? Otherwise, I'll catch hell from the Major… if he ransoms me back… He's kinda… unforgiving like that."

"Sure thing," Ruby replied genially. "Your ride's almost here, we'll just knock it over, it'll look nice and destroyed."

"Or just wait for a nice stiff breeze to come by," Yang muttered, eyeing the decrepit wreck dubiously.

* * *

Forward Base  
White Fang Mercenary Battalion  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

The atmosphere of the tent was tense enough that one could slice through it with a fusion cutter. A continuous low growl built up inside the chest of Major Taurus as he stared at the display lying atop the tactical map.

"More losses," he ground out furiously.

"But they're losing 'Mechs as well," Perry opined, somewhat foolishly.

Adam turned his withering gaze upon his subordinate. "They're not enough!" he roared, flinging the tablet to the ground. "We were doing so well, but now… By this point, we should have _total_ control of the countryside! How else will we draw them out of the city?"

"There's only maybe a company left out here…"

"And we've got a company and a half!" Taurus snarled. "What's left of the Capellans are the veterans, hardened in battle, and they won't fall as easily. Especially…" He turned then, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles creaked. " _Especially_ in this one sector…"

"Oh! Er, I do have some news on that…"

The Major turned his head, slipping his glasses down so that his eyes might bore into that of his adjutant. "News…?" he drawled out dangerously.

"Yessir... " Perry swallowed nervously. "Er… We ransomed a pilot back who had contact with… that one lance… By the 'Mech composition, we're about 95% certain that their name is Rose Lance."

"Hmm." Taurus drew himself erect, his thunderous mood suddenly calm. "Rose Lance… Perry?"

"Um, yes sir?"

"Time to strip some thorns from the branch… Increase patrols in that region." His grin was that of a predator about to hunt. "I want them crushed, priority order."

"Yessir!"

Once the adjutant had left, the Major returned to his perusal of the map, gaze roving around but ultimately returning to the area surrounding the paint factory.

"Rose Lance…" he murmured to himself eagerly. "You will come to hate the very mention of this planet… if I allow you to live, of course…"

* * *

Gamma Base  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

"What a day," Ruby sighed, stretching her arms out above her head as they trudged back to their dorm room.

"You said it," Yang grunted. She snapped her head from side to side to relieve the kinks in her neck. "Hella long patrol."

"Six hours in the cockpit is a bit much," Weiss allowed while sniffing disdainfully at her jumpsuit.

"Mmm," Blake agreed. The raven-haired girl paused at the sound of quick footsteps from behind them.

"Hey!" Neon whispered loudly, trotting towards the group with a distressed look on her face. "I gotta talk to you guys!"

"Sure, what's up, Neon?" the brunette lance leader queried with a slight frown.

Wordlessly, the orange-haired Cat Faunus ushered the others into their room, closing the door behind them.

"Okay, so, I'm not really supposed to tell you about this," she began rapidly. "But I've been pulling some shifts on the comms, right? Transferring orders, handling coordination, that kinda stuff… Anyway, I heard some big news that the spooks put a tight lid on right away!"

"Spooks?" Weiss asked.

"Security personnel," Blake answered quietly, her brow furrowed with apprehension. "What did you hear, Neon?"

The other Faunus girl sucked in a big breath before replying. "It's… It's Remnant. The planet's fallen, Davion recaptured it."

All of the natives from that planet looked at each other, stunned by the news. Even Weiss was glancing between her lancemates with concern.

"Well," the brunette murmured disconsolately as she slumped into a chair, "I guess we can't go home anymore."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Whelp, sucks to be a Remnanter in the Liao Regulars now, doesn't it? But hey, I finally got this chapter done!
> 
> Next chapter will see more fighting as the Capellans desperately try to hold onto Tallin!
> 
> Much love to my reviewers, and props to **RatedRSS87** for the shaved side hair idea with Weiss, I love it!
> 
> Stay shiny!


	12. Chapter 12

Gamma Base Perimeter  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

The Liao forces left across the countryside of Tallin were in increasingly dire straits.

Blake sighed to herself as she tapped her HUD to flip between maps. They were stretched thin, though the leadership had opted to start consolidating the Battlemechs that remained outside of the capital. Of course, those 'elite' 'Mechs of the Colonel's company, along with the rest of First Battalion, remained in the city still, largely ignored by the White Fang mercenaries save for a few probing attacks.

Their brunette lance leader had stopped even trying to defend the incompetence of those in charge from her lance during their bitching sessions as the label, not to mention overall scorn, was well-deserved.

Right now, though, their lance was only the four 'Mechs remaining in their company. Their Captain was killed in action just a few days prior when he tried to link up with reinforcements from another base.

The entire situation was beginning to fall apart under pressure from the Davion mercenaries, and it didn't take a tactical genius like Weiss to see it.

They still had to follow orders from up top, though. Currently, she was engaged in a solitary patrol as their numbers were so badly reduced. The raven-haired Mechwarrior had an inordinately bad feeling about her current role, even if the rest of her lance remained on standby.

The thought caused a smile to tug at the corners of her lips, however. When she'd first been conscripted into the Capellan military, she'd not given much thought to it other than the fact that she'd finally get to pilot a Battlemech. It was a goal she'd strived towards her entire life. Her father, now one of the planetary rulers with a seat on Remnant's council, had been a fearsome Mechwarrior in his day. She'd grown up on stories of his adventures, sitting starry-eyed at his feet or in her mother's lap.

And now, finally, here she was at the controls of a Stinger, a special neurohelmet sitting atop her head that allowed her Faunus ears to poke out the top comfortably.

That said, she'd not given a whole lot of thought as to who she'd end up in a lance with once her transfer came through from the provisional garrison duty down in the Texlos system. That had been a rather uncomfortable experience as she'd had little to no contact with any other Remnanters, and truthfully, she'd expected the same when she'd landed on Tallin, just a short jump away.

But then everything seemed to change for the better. Aside from having two other Remnanters in her lance, she'd managed to develop a strong friendship with all three lancemates. A feat sorely missing since she'd left home two years ago.

She was pulled from her reverie by a red blip that popped up on her HUD, blinking persistently as it drew closer.

"Well, hello there," she murmured, changing course to intercept the interloper. "And just who might you be…?"

Her voice trailed off as the single target marker was joined by another two, all three of similar tonnage to her own.

_Well, it will certainly be a challenge, at least._

"Gamma Base, this is Mechwarrior Belladonna," she reported once she'd opened the appropriate channel. "Engaging three light 'Mechs in sector seventeen. Requesting backup."

"Affirmative, Mechwarrior Belladonna," a cheerful voice answered, one she recognized as belonging to another Remnanter, Neon, who had been filling in on the communications often lately as personnel was shifted around the planet. "Your lance is inbound, e.t.a. five minutes."

 _Five minutes?_  She glanced at her display again, grimacing at the realization she'd been at the outer edge of her patrol route.  _Well, I can likely take care of these mercs on my own, but it never hurts to have reinforcements handy._

With that thought, she accelerated her 20-ton 'Mech into a sprint. As she neared her opponents, the blips materialized into hard contacts. Two Battlemechs, a Stinger and a Wasp, soared over the hill on jump jets while the third, another Stinger, barrelled straight in at her.

Grinning tightly, Blake engaged her own jump jets. She could only imagine the look of surprise on the Wasp pilot's face as her own 'Mech body-checked him in mid-air, sending the other light Battlemech toppling end-over-heels. Unfortunately for him, it ended its flight head-first, slamming into the ground and killing the pilot instantly.

Pulling off a maneuver only another Remnanter could manage, Blake angled one leg to twist in mid-air, coming down lightly while firing her laser at the back of the first airborne Stinger. It hit in the back left torso, and as the beam cored through it sent that arm spinning away. Off-balance, it staggered once it landed and tried to turn.

The second Stinger was now skidding to a halt, turning as well to face her, but before Blake could formulate her next avenue of attack, her HUD suddenly lit up with red text accompanied by harsh klaxons.

_WARNING: MISSILES INCOMING_

"Shit!" she barked out, engaging her jump jets once again but this time away from the action.  _Where did that come from?_

The raven-haired Mechwarrior noted the missile tracks as her previous position was fairly well obliterated. "That is a whole lot of missiles," she murmured worriedly. Blake didn't have long to consider that, though, as the other pair of Stingers were fast approaching.

_Okay, obviously they've tied their sensors together, those long-range missiles were fired indirectly over the hill… Perhaps a Trechbucket?_

The 50-ton Trebuchet, a fire-support 'Mech frequently found in the Capellan forces, had been built as a companion to the popular Centurion. It featured a plethora of LRMs and a couple of medium lasers as well but suffered from heat-management issues.

"Right, so I just need to get close… let's give my new friends here a little bit to worry about first...:"

Blake jogged forward, engaging her jump jets once more just as laser fire began to lance out towards her. She fired in mid-air, and again when she landed in a crouch. The return fire passed overhead, but her damage was telling.

The wounded 'Mech staggered once more as its center torso was cored through, shaking like a leaf on a tree as the machine gun ammo cooked off. The pilot ejected soon thereafter.

Meanwhile, the second Stinger's leg gave way, its knee blown partway through. As it sagged to the ground, Blake spun around and charged the hill where her next prey lay. The red marker was indistinct still, but she'd be upon her foe soon enough.

As she crested the rise, jetting overhead, she was cognizant of the fact that she may have underestimated her opponent. Fatally.

What lay in wait for her was not a 50-ton Trebuchet, but instead a 65-ton Catapult. With twin LRM racks of fifteen missile launchers apiece serving as the wings on either side of a bullet-shaped torso containing a set of four medium lasers, the heavy 'Mech would be a fearsome opponent even in close range for a light 'Mech such as hers.

She recalled another feature of the squat Battlemech as it took flight backward, trying to gain distance and keep her in the optimum range of its missiles.

_Oh, yes, and it has jump jets, too._

Undeterred, she gritted her teeth and cut her jets to land quickly. Another barrage of missile sailed overhead as she opened her comm channel to her lance.

"Ruby, I hope you're close. Two lights down, one remaining, now engaging a Catapult."

After a brief hiss of static, her lance leader's voice came back. "Almost there, Blake, hang on!"

"Will do," she returned humorlessly. What else could she say, really?

The other Stinger had now crested the hill, limping along on its mangled leg but still a threat, or at the very least a distraction from her now main opponent. With that in mind, she rocketed backward on a low trajectory, skidding to a halt mere meters from the other light 'Mech. Twisting, she slammed her left arm into the enemy before firing her laser point-blank at its torso. The joint damage was enough to cripple it, the right arm with the laser attached dangling lifelessly at its side as it toppled over once more. This time, however, the top hatch popped open to reveal a haggard Mechwarrior who flopped inelegantly to the rocky ground.

Blake's HUD once again lit up with a missile warning, much to her horror.  _He's firing on his own downed 'Mech!_

Instinctively, she leaped to the side, avoiding the barrage but wincing as the entire area where the fallen Mechwarrior had lain was wreathed in fire and smoke.

Several more leaps and sprints took her ever closer to the enemy. Blake's lips were peeled back in a snarl as she relentlessly closed the gap.

Unfortunately, her opponent was rather skilled at his trade as well. The Catapult kept maneuvering as if they were in orbit, though after a while the missile salvos were spaced about more and the launchers alternated rather than both firing at once.

_Good, his heat is building up._

She took the opportunity to sail directly in close, firing her laser and scoring a glancing hit to the heavy 'Mech's head. It was not enough, though, to prevent the full barrage of weaponry to slam into the lighter Battlemech.

Evidently, the pilot had been conserving heat for just such an Alpha strike. As she was within the minimum range of the long-range missiles, most of them went spiraling harmlessly past her, though quite a few impacted against her torso and legs. All four medium lasers, however, cored through her Stinger.

Blake let out an anguished scream as her 'Mech broke apart, the screeching of torn metal assaulting her sensitive ears and the vibrations of shorn armor making her teeth ache. Squinting her eyes shut, she slammed her fist down on the eject button and prayed for the best.

After a loud  _bang_  of the escape hatch blowing, she was pressed back into her chair as she took flight. The wind whistled around her until she found herself briefly weightless, and then her frame was jolted as the ejection seat's parachute deployed.

Finally, she opened her eyes to look about with her bird's eye view of the battlefield, grinning as the welcome sight of a Phoenix Hawk and Wasp darted in at her former opponent, while a Griffin stood back and provided fire support.

"Oh, sure,  _now_  you surrender," she laughed as the Catapult's hatch opened to show a figure standing up with his arms raised.

The Faunus pilot's laughter turned into a dismal sigh as she eyed the wreckage of her Stinger. Or rather, the almost unidentifiable pieces littering the ground.

"What a mess…" She shook her head as the ground neared. "Hopefully, Arslan can get me back in a ride soon…"

As she landed, her chair hit some of the smoldering wreckage strewn about, tilting it to the side. Blake gasped as her ankle twisted from the impact.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit…"

With a groan, she unbuckled herself and tried to stand upright, only to hop back onto one foot at the pain. "Well, that's just a wonderful end to an overall crappy engagement," the raven-haired Cat Faunus groaned.

She turned at the vibrations that indicated an approaching Battlemech. The towering Phoenix Hawk extended a hand towards her, slowly and carefully.

"Just returning the favor!" Ruby's voice called out cheerfully over the external speakers.

With a chuckle and a nod, Blake climbed up into her impromptu transport and settled in to enjoy the uncomfortable ride as best she could.

* * *

Gamma Base Infirmary  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

"Honestly, I'm beginning to tire of this room," Blake murmured, glancing around at her lancemates as a doctor worked on her sprained ankle.

"At least you don't have to stay overnight," Weiss grumbled, though with an accompanying smile.

"True enough." Ruby leaned against the bed casually, though her eyes were serious. "Y'know, that was pretty close today."

"It was," Blake agreed. "The three lights I managed just fine, but even with my assumption that the fourth was a Trenchbucket…"

"That would have been a little much."

"Yes." She sighed and looked down at her hands. "I was… overconfident."

"Whelp, just so long as you recognize that,' Ruby grinned, giving her arm a quick squeeze. "At least you called for us."

"If she hadn't, I'd be bopping her over the head," Yang grumbled, still not all that happy with how close she'd been to losing her partner.

"I'm sorry," Blake stated contritely, ducking her head. "Both for my… hubris… and for worrying you all."

"Hmm." Weiss smiled then, her pale blue eyes twinkling mischievously. "I was beginning to wonder if perhaps Yang was rubbing off on you."

"Hey!" Yang protested, even though she joined in on the laughter with the rest of her lance.

"Oh, so, Blake," their brunette lance leader broke in once the amusement had subsided. "Arslan is working on getting that Catapult running, actually shouldn't take too long to get up to speed. Only reason he surrendered was 'cause he was on the verge of a shutdown, didn't lose much armor, really."

"I see. That's… nice."

Blake tried to keep the grimace off of her face. While she didn't mind overmuch, especially as it would put her back in the pilot's seat, a Catapult simply wasn't her style at all. The lack of articulated hands and arms was a major drawback, but at least it had jump jets…

"So I was wondering," Ruby continued, rubbing the back of her head with a bashful smile. "I mean if you wouldn't mind… this is entirely up to you, really…  _buuut_ would you maybe wanna take the P-Hawk instead?"

Blake blinked her amber eyes several times before forming a reply. "I would greatly appreciate that, honestly. Your Battlemech is far more suited to my usual way of fighting… But why the Catapult for yourself?"

"It's just, well… I'm wondering if the handling might not be more like the Locust." Ruby shrugged helplessly. "I mean, sure I can pilot the Phoenix just fine, but it's a big jump from how I used to pilot my Locust, y'know?"

"On one condition."

Her lance leader stood up straight, nodding her head with a serious expression. "Sure, name it."

Blake allowed a slow smile to creep across her face as she extended her hand.

"No take-backs."

Ruby laughingly agreed as they shook on the deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Hmm, more 'Mech upgrades, Rose Lance is starting to look pretty powerful…
> 
> Next up, we finally get to see more characters (yay!) and arrive at the Big Battle.
> 
> Many thanks for reading and reviewing!
> 
> Stay shiny!


	13. Chapter 13

Gamma Base  
Planet: Tallin  
Capellan Confederation

The early morning sun was just casting its rays upon the cavernous 'Mech bay when the bullet-shaped torso of a heavy Battlemech poked its nose out, followed soon thereafter by the rest of the birdlike Catapult.

Ruby piloted her new ride with a certain amount of initial trepidation, relishing in the familiar handling yet trying to come to terms with its capabilities.

The new  _Crescent Rose_  was a powerful 'Mech, to be sure, but it was just so…  _slow_.

"Literally half the speed of my Locust," the brunette Mechwarrior groused to herself quietly. "Can't argue with the firepower, though, just need to adjust my fighting style a bit…"

As her 'Mech cleared the entrance, more followed her. Watching the departure of the last remaining Battlemechs of Bravo Company, Third Battalion of the 41st Capellan Regulars was a pair of hovertanks, idling on the far edge of the tarmac.

Ruby switched her comms over to Gamma Base's primary channel. "Nebula, you hold the fort down, okay?"

"Will do, Ruby!" her friend replied. The middle-aged Harasser pilot and the lance's Chief Mechtech, Arslan, had formed a quick friendship based on their shared seniority, though they readily included Ruby in their lunchtime discussions. Sometimes to mother the brunette outrageously, but it was all in good fun.

As her column turned towards their assigned target location, she slowed her 'Mech down so as to pull alongside the rest. They were a reinforced lance now, with another pair of survivors of a nearby lance from Charlie Company. Though they were unknowns, the Remnanter was confident enough that each Mechwarrior could hold their own in a fight. No matter how…  _unconventional_  one of them might be.

The first, piloting a Stinger, seemed to exude a certain calm confidence that was a counter to his childhood friend's sometimes manic banter. The both of them were Liao natives from the world of St. Ives, having entered service to attain citizenship. From what she'd ascertained, they'd come from pretty much nothing, so this was a huge step up from their former existence.

Speaking of the second new addition to their lance…

"Mechwarrior Valkyrie," she began over the lance frequency with no small amount of curiosity. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't seem to be quite… regulation."

"Nope!" Nora replied cheerfully. "But it's not like anyone's around to stop me! Well, except you, boss, but you're cool and all. Right?"

"Right," she snickered in return. Both Nora and the other pilot, Lie Ren, had quickly picked up on the form of address.

Still, it was quite the sight. The 50-ton Hunchback was a beast of a machine in its own right, carrying the heaviest autocannon currently in existence, normally mounted on assault 'Mechs. It was slow, on par with her heavier Cat, but well-armored and a deadly brawler.

What set it apart, of course, was the white-and-pink camouflage paint job.

"She tried it once before," Ren interject calmly into her thoughts. "Our C.O. gave her kitchen duty and made her change the paint back."

"But then the old killjoy went and got himself smashed by a Marauder!" the orange-haired Mechwarrior giggled. "So my beautiful  _Magnhild_  can show her true colors once again!"

"It's eye-catching, that's for sure" Yang chuckled. "Gotta admit, I'm a little jealous of that ride of yours."

"Don't go thinking you can shoot me in the back and steal my baby!"

"Who, me?"

"Don't worry, Nora," Blake added, her Phoenix Hawk easily striding along on point. "That's what we have combat recorders for."

"Okay people," Ruby broke into their banter. "Let's do a quick op review since we didn't get a chance once our orders came through."

"I only caught the tail end of the transmission from Regimental HQ," Weiss stated levelly. "We're on support duty?"

"Right, they need us to set up in position in case the enemy breaks through." Ruby sighed heavily, pushing her 'Mech forward and over a rocky incline. "The Major's First Battalion finally left the city."

" _Ohhh_ , our heroes have emerged from their lair?" Yang joked sarcastically. "We're saved!"

"Well, they're engaging the rest of the mercenaries in open battle, a few clicks from where we are at… right… here…" Ruby came to a halt atop the ridge, looking around with satisfaction. Good firing angles from up above there, and they could engage on the downslope if they needed to without risking friendly fire. Also, cliffs on either side bracketed the road that they overlooked so that any advance would be funneled towards them unless they went hours out of the way. "Anyway, this would be the easiest route back to the city and the spaceport where our dropships are. So we're the last line of defense."

"All our dropships are grounded, right?"

"Um, yeah, Nora, they are."

"Then whose are those at two-o'clock?"

As one, they pivoted slightly to view a trio of Union dropships descending hard and fast, trailing fire like comets. They were braking enough to land and not crash, but it would be a near thing. Each dropship could potentially be carrying an entire company of Battlemechs.

Ruby checked her map, mouth going dry as she noted where their landing point was.

"Well, shit."

"They're landing right next to the battle, aren't they?" Weiss asked tensely.

"Yeah," Ruby groaned. "Yeah, they are. Okay, Rose lance, our orders still stand. We block the enemy from progressing."

As she spoke, the dropships slipped from view behind a bend in the rocky terrain, presumably reinforcing the mercenary forces with another Battalion. The brunette shook her head slowly.  _This was going to be very, very bad._

Only five minutes had passed with some small chatter among the lance to dispel their nerves before the Third Battalion command channel came to life.

"Rose Lance, come in Rose Lance, are you in position?"

"This is W.O. Rose, we are in position," Ruby reported promptly.

"Right, this is Captain Shao from Alpha Company, our forces have been routed… Davion Regulars just rolled up our flank, we're pulling back to the city! Grab what reinforcements you can to give us cover!"

"Give them cover?" Yang murmured over their lance frequency. "The six of us?"

"Let's be damn persuasive with those running by us," Ruby retorted, eyeing her scanners as blips of friendly 'Mechs began to show up. The IFF signals, or  _Identification: Friend or Foe_ , glowed a reassuring green, but that would change soon enough. She flipped back to the command channel. "We'll do our best, Captain."

Only static answered her.

"Captain?" she tried again.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Blake whispered.

Ruby gave herself a shake, dispelling any negative thoughts about their predicament. "No, we've got this. Weiss?"

She had every confidence that the platinum-haired Steiner native would already be working the problem in her mind, and she was not disappointed. "We'll be facing them in order of speed," Weiss began crisply. "So lights first, obviously, as they pursue our forces."

"Oh yeah, they're definitely gonna be chasing them down, the rat bastards," Yang growled.

"Then mediums, the faster 55-ton ones, at least," Weiss continued, unfazed by the interruption. "Lastly slow mediums and the bulk of the heavies… This really will hinge on gaining some reinforcements from our forces."

By this point, Battlemechs began to stream past them along the road to the city that they overlooked. Most showed significant damage, particularly the lights, but all were able to move without issue. It would be the slower and more crippled 'Mechs that would be picked apart by their pursuers.

Ruby switched over to the open regimental frequency, wincing as her ears were assaulted by a host of panicked voices. "41st Capellan Regulars, this is W.O. Rose, I am situated overlooking your escape route. Any forces that can help would be greatly appreciated. We will hold the enemy back."

"Hold them back?!" one voice shrieked. "Are you fucking kidding me, they're everywhere, you can't-"

"Hey, Rose," another woman broke in. "Give me your lance channel."

Ruby obliged, noting a mixed quartet of medium and heavy 'Mechs that had broken away from the retreating masses to head in their direction.

"Name's Coco Adel," the woman tersely began once on their frequency. "I managed to pull a lance together when our other lancemates turned tail. You all mind the assist?"

"You are more than welcome to join," Ruby laughed in relief as she observed the newcomers. The 60-ton Rifleman in the lead was evidently Coco's ride, a deadly anti-air Battlemech with paired autocannons and large lasers, but also a more than capable sniper. The others, introduced as Yatsuhashi in a 70-ton Archer, Fox in a 65-ton Crusader, and then Velvet in a 50-ton Trebuchet, gave her hope that they could really pull this off.

"Wait, Velvet?" Blake broke in. "Velvet Scarlatina?"

"By the Maidens, Blake? It's been ages!"

Her grin widened as she recognized the distinctively lilting voice as that of another Remnanter from her sister's class year. All in all, the new forces were certainly a welcome addition. Between the Archer and the Crusader, the former with a pair of the biggest racks of long-range missiles possible and the latter with two racks of 15 LRMS each paired with two large SRM launchers, they would provide plenty of fire support. Throw in the Trebuchet with another pair of 15 LRM racks and the trio could fill the air with a hundred missiles at long range.

"Right, Coco, let's designate you four as a fire lance, okay? Set up on this ridge and don't budge if you can help it. Er…" Ruby paused as a thought struck her. "They didn't bring any air support, did they?"

"I saw a few, yeah," Fox interjected. "Mostly small stuff, I think some even got shot down. Hey, are you by any chance Yang Xiao Long's sister?"

"I am…? Oh, are you from Remnant too?"

"Yep, sure enough. Class ahead of Yang."

"Huh, I think I remember you," Yang mused. "Orange hair, tanned?"

"Got it in one!"

"People, can we focus here?!" Weiss irritably broke in.

"Sorry, Weiss!" Yang replied soberly.

Ruby chuckled. "It's okay, we can catch up after we smash these guys… Oh, looks like we have a few more heading our way… Wait, is the IFF right?"

"It is, yes, I've already spoken to them," the platinum-haired Mechwarrior replied. "Both the Enforcer and Valkyrie were captured when their home planet of Kittery fell to Liao."

"Oh. Huh." While the 50-ton Enforcer was certainly to be found within Capellan forces, though rarely, the 35-ton Valkyrie, with an LRM 10-rack, a medium laser, and decent maneuverability, was an uncommon sight on the battlefield and only ever wearing Federated Suns colors. For one to end up in the Liao Regulars was almost unheard of.

The third 'Mech, another 50-ton medium but this time a standard of Liao forces, a Centurion with paired heavy autocannon and long-range missile rack, was another welcome addition.

"Hey, so, I'm Jaune," a male voice broke in. The Enforcer gave a little wave as it joined their ranks. "Jaune Arc, at your service. In the Valkyrie here is my friend Pyrrha Nikos…"

"Hello!" a friendly female voice interjected.

"And then this is Henry… um…"

"Henry Marigold," the Centurion driver finished glumly. "Lost track of the rest of my company. Don't know if they're dead or not, but I don't fancy showing up alone at the spaceport."

"Why not?" Weiss asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Maskirovka."

Ruby shuddered briefly at the name. "Yeah, I can only imagine what would happen to the pilots they decide are cowards for running," she whispered to herself as the others ran through brief introductions.

Her mind working quickly, the brunette lance leader began to direct what forces she now had. Red indicators were starting to form at the edge of her sensor range.

"Right. Fire lance, like I said, stay on the ridge. Let's put the power mediums in the center, hold the line in front…"

"Power mediums?" Weiss interrupted.

"Sorry, yeah, the Hunchback, Centurion, and Enforcer. Then Weiss and I mid-range, supporting the front… lights and the P-Hawk on the flanks…"

"Blake and Yang on the left flank, Ren and Pyrrha on the right."

"Thanks, Weiss, that'll work. Center hold steady and advance only on my orders, flanks stay mobile but don't get cut off, work in pairs… Anything else?"

"I think that's the best we can do, given the current circumstances," her second-in-command responded wryly.

"Damn," Coco laughed. "Okay, feeling a helluva lot better about joining up with you all. Let's do this."

"We're on it, boss," Yang chirped. "C'mon Blake, time to play!"

"Do try to keep up," Blake answered with only a hint of mischievousness.

"Oh, is this a contest then?"

"I want in on this action!" Nora stated excitedly.

"Nora, you can take out a 'Mech with one shot," Ren retorted.

"Yeah, about that…" Ruby set her Catapult in between the ridge and the trio of mediums who were now spread out about thirty meters in front. "Center line, save your autocannons for the heavier 'Mechs, we're gonna need to conserve expendables."

"Awww, but I like shredding the little ones!"

"No, Nora," the brunette ordered sternly though she could help to smile slightly. "And don't whine."

" _Fiiine_ , you're the boss…"

"Incoming, entering optimum range in fifteen seconds," Weiss called out calmly. "Pair of Locusts, some Stingers, a Wasp, Commando, Jenner… Nothing we can't handle."

"Let's make a statement, though, see if we can't slow their charge," Ruby mused, wincing as she saw a hapless Capellan Vindicator go down in the distance. "All long-range missiles, prepare to fire on my mark, target the bulk of the lights…"

She eyed the progress of the red blips, letting out a sigh at the two Locusts as they sped in. "I miss that," she murmured. Then, as the cluster of six light Battlemechs entered her kill zone, a couple of them Davion Regulars but mostly mercenary… "Fire!"

Though the two speedy 20-ton 'Mechs darted in without pausing, the others seemed to balk at the darkened cloud of a hundred and sixty long-range missiles as they descended like the wrath of some vengeful deity. The area was briefly obscured by smoke and debris, but once it cleared, only a solitary Wasp was left standing, though its leg gave way soon thereafter, sending it toppling to the side.

The other lights, bereft of their support, were dealt with quickly and efficiently.

"Gee, if only they would all fall that easily," Yang laughed.

"If only…" Weiss murmured. "Next wave approaching, though more cautiously, I think… sixty seconds to contact…"

"Weiss, I'm sending you a connect request," Coco broke in. "I've got a better radar and sensor suite, you can tie into my system."

"Oh, wonderful… Yes, that's much better." Weiss paused for a moment. "Er, are those fast-moving blips what I think they are?"

"Yeah, a pair of Aerospace assets circling our location," Coco grumbled. "They'll likely hit when the next wave does."

"Okay, Coco, they're yours." Ruby peered at her screen but couldn't make out the fighters. "Do you need help? What are we looking at?"

"Fox and I were in a lance together, he's already paired with my system, I'll just borrow him when I need to."

"Well, at least you're telling me first this time," the Mechwarrior in question chuckled.

"As for what we're facing… Their profile looks to be lights, I'd say Sparrowhawks. Fast and nimble, but only medium-range laser weaponry."

"Alright, then…" The sensor markers were resolving now into hard targets, a mix of 55-ton Shadow Hawks, Wolverines, and Griffins leading with a few of the faster heavies. A pair of Quickdraws and a Dragon, all three 60-tonners, made up the middle. "Fire lance, engage at will. Center line, you're cleared to use your autocannons. Nora… please don't use up your ammo all at once."

"No worries, boss, I like to punch them in the face, too!"

"Well, that comes as no surprise," Ruby chuckled. Missiles  _wooshed_  overhead, and she sent a barrage of her own at one of the Quickdraws before switching over to a Wolverine that was bearing in on the right flank. "Give 'em hell, people!"

She engaged her jump jets, heading over to back up the Valkyrie and Stinger. All four of her medium lasers lanced out to capitalize on the damage from her missile barrage, staggering the 55-ton Wolverine and rendering its autocannon useless. Both of the Liao light 'Mechs bounced around, peppering it with further laser fire, until Henry moved in, autocannon blazing. It was twice as powerful as that carried by the Wolverine and caused immediate catastrophic damage. The ammunition quickly cooked off, blasting the 'Mech into pieces.

Ruby engaged her jump jets once more, returning to her original position, but then her sensors screamed at her of an imminent attack. Before she could react, though, it cut off, and she could see something slam into the ground just past the engagement area, followed soon after by another impact.

"Aerospace assets taken care of," Coco reported cooly. "Re-engaging ground targets."

"Roger that, and thanks." Ruby blew a droplet of sweat off of her face as she was reminded of how easily a Cat could overheat if used unwisely. She spied more heavies moving in, along with some longer-ranged 'Mechs setting up at the edge.

"Well, that won't do at all," she grinned. Leaning forward, she pushed her Catapult into a run, dodging both Battlemechs and laser fire as she closed the distance.

Once past the melee, she noted that the enemy ahead of her consisted of a pair of Jagermechs. One was a commonly-seen JM6-S model with paired autocannons making up each arm, though the other was a JM6-A variant with a set of 15-tube LRM racks instead of the two medium autocannons. Both were deadly ranged fighters, though with lighter armor than her own 'Mech.

The JM6-S noticed her right away, autocannon fire stitching the ground towards her that she easily sidestepped. The other Jagermech, though, was concentrating on its target to a deadly extent.

"Ren, no!" she heard Nora scream.

"It's okay, he ejected!" Jaune shouted back. "Nora, stay on the line!"

Ruby grimaced as the green light designating Ren's Stinger went out. "Nora, I've got the fucker, don't you worry," she gritted out, Engaging her jump jets, she rocketed in, firing her missiles almost at the minimum effective range.

All thirty LRMs impacted on the JM6-A, smashing into the same location. The torso exploded as the ammunition was hit, sending the Battlemech staggering off to the side. As the other ammunition cache began to ignite, the head split apart with the Mechwarrior ejecting ahead of his 'Mech's destruction.

The JM6-S backed up rapidly, trying to keep the Catapult at effective range, but he soon had help. An Enforcer, this one in the dark blue colors of the Davion Regulars, charged in at her flank.

She skidded to a halt, reversing direction in a manner seemingly impossible for such an ungainly 'Mech. As the Enforcer dashed past, missing her entirely, she opened up with her medium lasers into his backside.

He turned, then, and she could almost see the offended look on the pilot's face in the viewport. But then his 'Mech shuddered under the impact of a Hunchback's ultra-heavy autocannon. Nora's aim was impressive, coring straight through the Enforcer's backside as it collapsed in a heap, the fusion reactor destroyed.

With the distraction removed, Ruby searched for her original opponent, only to see it break apart as well, this time from the heavy laser and autocannon fire from Coco's Rifleman.

"Ruby, you need to pull back, there are more incoming!" Weiss warned.

With a grunt she engaged her jets again, feeling the wash of heat flood the cockpit. As she did so, she could see Yang and Blake engaging a trio of 'Mechs, two Shadow Hawks and a Blackjack, with Weiss supporting them in her Griffin. At the apex of her jump, Ruby let fly a barrage of missiles at the nearest Shadow Hawk, stumbling it enough that Yang was able to smash her fist into its head. Unfortunately, while she took out one opponent, the other Shadow Hawk got the drop on her.

Ruby winced as Yang's Wasp lost an arm and most of the armor on its torso. Then the Blackjack joined in, but luckily, Yang was able to eject at the last moment.

Though she considered joining in to help, by this point both Velvet and Fox had turned their attention towards the two remaining enemies, so she let them deal with that situation.

They would all have their hands full soon enough.

It became a blur, dodging and jumping around as she supported the right flank. Pyrrha was doing an admirable job all by herself as she jetted about the battlefield, while in the middle, Jaune was constantly giving the 'Mechs on either side of him encouragement, calling out targets and warnings as the battle ebbed and flowed around them.

All of the Capellan Battlemechs were taking damage, some more heavily than others. The mediums in the center suffered the worst as they tried to hold firm. Nora had run out of ammunition some time ago, but true to her word, she was happily wading in among her opponents, smashing into them with abandon.

"New target marked!" Weiss shouted anxiously into the comms. "Fire lance, take it down, now!"

Ruby glanced at her screen, gasping as the blinking icon's label materialized into that of an assault 'Mech, an 85-ton Stalker.

"Oh, gods," she whispered, jetting to the side and adding her own missiles to support those on the ridge.

The Stalker was a heavy weapons platform that could handily engage at any range and was able to absorb a tremendous amount of punishment. Both long- and short-ranged missiles were paired with heavy and medium lasers making it a fearsome opponent in a standing engagement like theirs. Weiss was absolutely correct in making this everyone's priority.

Missiles and lasers began to pepper the assault 'Mech, but it seemed to shrug off the initial attacks as if they were inconsequential. Its first barrage slammed into Velvet's Trebuchet, already damaged by a long-range dual with a Griffin. One arm along with its LRM launcher dropped to the ground, wreathed in flames.

The three mediums in the center finished up with the remnants of the last wave and began to target the Stalker as well. Noticing that, the assault 'Mech turned slowly, almost menacingly, until it faced the impudent Centurion who was firing off the last few rounds from its autocannon.

The answering fire obliterated the 50-ton 'Mech. Henry screamed over the comms but was cut off as the remaining LRM ammunition was ignited. All that was left of his Battlemech were pieces of debris scattered across the field.

Snarling, Ruby set herself into a stable firing stance. She targeted the head of the assault 'Mech and let fly, but not before another barrage from the Stalker hit his original target. Velvet was quick to eject, however, as she knew how untenable her 'Mech was by that point.

Smoke was pouring from gashes in the Stalker's torso, now, but the LRMs arrowing in from the Catapult struck true, staggering the similarly-shaped 'Mech and causing its next missile salvo to go wide. Accurate fire from Coco finally finished the behemoth, touching off the remainder of its ammunition in a fiery explosion that lit up the area.

And then a momentary calm settled across the battlefield.

Ruby cleared her throat, now parched from the scorching heat of her cockpit. She braced her 'Mech and allowed the heat sinks to bleed off and cool the Catapult. "Status," she croaked.

"We've still got Yatsu and Fox," Coco reported, sounding just as cool and collected as before the battle. "Velvet ejected safely. We're getting low on expendables, though."

"Henry is gone," Jaune added tiredly. "He didn't eject. All out of expendables."

"But still ready to brawl," interjected Nora eagerly.

"Right flank, I saw Ren's ejection seat land, he's on foot and heading towards the ridge," Pyrrha stated next. "Only a couple of LRM rounds left. My left arm is gone but I'm still functional."

"Left flank," Blake began tiredly after a brief pause. "Pretty sure Yang got to the rear okay. I'm… Well, I'm missing both arms along with my weapons, just about all my armor, jump jets are gone, and I think if I try to run one or both of my legs will fall off."

"What the hell, Blake, why haven't you ejected yet?" Ruby asked, incredulous.

"...I'm still functional as well."

"Blake…" The brunette sighed, though she couldn't fault her lancemate's fervor. "Can you go up and join the fire lance, please? Spot for them?"

"Copy that, boss."

"And Weiss?" she asked next. "How are you holding up?"

"Major armor loss but still functional," her friend responded crisply. "I think my LRM launcher might be damaged, but I'm out of ammunition in any case."

"Right… I have a few rounds left-"

"Hey, boss-lady," Coco broke in. "I've got another group heading towards us, slow but steady. At least one more assault 'Mech."

"Of course there is," she sighed. "Alright people, let's get set up. Weiss, go ahead and hold the left flank, please. Pyrrha, continue to do your awesome job on the right."

"Oh, well, thank you!"

"You're welcome," Ruby chuckled. "I'll take the very center, Jaune and Nora on my flanks. I want you to continue to direct the flow of things on the line, alright, Jaune? I'll try to keep the big picture, but I get a little too focused on the battle sometimes."

"Will do, boss."

She noticed a console light glowing to indicate a transmission on the open channel. Curious, she flipped over.

"Capellan forces, my name is Major Adam Taurus," a voice announced with a dramatic undertone. "My White Fang mercenaries just finished routing the rest of your regiment and I will now take the capital city of Tallin. You, however, are in my way. Move or be destroyed."

Smirking, Ruby activated her comm while keeping the lance channel open as well so the rest could hear. "That's kinda funny, Major, 'cause it looked like the only reason you kicked butt was because your Davion friends showed up. Oh," she added nonchalantly. "And I think we just did a little routing of our own."

There was a long pause, though the snickers of those still by her side filled the silence.

"Who is this?" Adam finally snarled.

"Who, me? Warrant Officer Ruby Rose, at your service! And ready to accept your surrender!"

"...Surrender? Me? Oh, you really are a delusional little girl…"

The six heavy Battlemechs approaching paused, though one continued on. All of them were significantly heavier than most of those on her side, the crablike shape of a Marauder, a Warhammer, as well as an Orion being readily recognizable. The one that prowled forward was heavier still, an 80-ton Awesome assault 'Mech.

"I do believe you are that thorn in my side, Rose Lance, yes?" he continued. "Well, this is just lovely, I finally get to kill all of you pests off, starting with you. Are you brave enough to face me?"

"Y'know, I kinda like the idea that we've been a thorn in your side," Ruby mused humorously. "Gives me the warm an' fuzzies just thinking about it. Still, can't say I've ever been accused of cowardice, so sure, why the hell not. Let's dance, Major."

She licked her lips, reviewing what she knew of the Awesome. Ridiculously heavy armor only outclassed by assault 'Mechs at the upper limit of tonnage, along with a trio of Particle Projector Cannons. Its drawbacks were familiar as well, slow and unmaneuverable, not to mention the problem that PPCs faced when tracking targets at close range.

But there was no reason to let it get to that point, really.

"Ruby, you don't have to duel him," Weiss urgently broke in on her private channel.

"Oh, I know, Weiss, I'm gonna give him a taste of his own code of honor." She switched over to the lance channel. "Fire lance, and everyone else with long-ranged weaponry, hit him on my mark."

"Ready and waiting, boss," Coco reported smoothly.

Ruby smirked to herself.  _Looks like everyone's picking up on the title, now._  And then she rocketed forward on her jump jets as if she were eager to close the distance.

As soon as her 'Mech's clawed feet hit the ground, though, she sidestepped the trio of blue energy lances that converged on the site of her landing. Then she immediately rocketed back again now that the lumbering assault 'Mech was engaged. "Take 'im!" she shouted, letting fly with a full salvo of her LRMs.

The Awesome was shredded by the first barrage of missiles and laser fire from the eight Capellan Battlemechs. Armor dropped in rivulets and chunks while it staggered back slightly. The targeting system must have taken a hit as the return fire went wide, azure beams passing harmlessly overhead.

After the second concentrated barrage, both arms were gone, one of them lying intact on the ground while the other was dangling by mere ribbons of myomer fibers. Almost all of the armor was destroyed with daylight visible through the torso and legs, while the remaining torso PPC was canted down at an angle.

"Again!" Ruby barked out, sending off another flight of missiles. She winced at the dull  _thunk_  on either side of the cockpit indicating empty chambers, echoed by the status light on her HUD informing her of the lack of further LRM reloads.

Just ahead of her salvo, accompanied by further fire from the rest of her impromptu team, an ejection seat launched upwards from the battered 'Mech. Which, all things considered, was remarkably sensible considering that after the third and final barrage, the only standing remnant of the Awesome was the remains of a solitary leg from the knee down. The rest of the assault Battlemech littered the ground in fragments.

"Anyone else?" Ruby retorted over the open channel.

The remaining mercenaries evidently came to the conclusion that discretion was the better part of valor and turned around to head back to their staging area.

"What an ass," Nora snorted derisively. "Did he really expect some kinda shootout or somethin'?"

"It is actually a distinctively Kuritan attitude, an honor-duel."

"Um…" Ruby blinked her eyes in confusion. "Who was that?"

"My apologies, this is Yatsuhashi."

"Oh, uh, sorry, I just… hadn't heard your voice before."

"He's more the strong and silent type," Coco chuckled.

"Alright, so… Oh, hang on…" Ruby flicked over to the comm channel screen on her HUD. "I'm getting a priority from Regimental, wait one, guys."

She flipped over to the appropriate frequency. "This is Warrant Officer Rose, Third Lance, Bravo Company, Third Battalion."

There was a crackle of static before a brusque voice came on. "This is Major Ruidan, First Battalion. Rose, were you with the 'Mechs covering the retreat?"

"Affirmative, we blunted their attack, all quiet for now."

"Well done. Return to your post and defend it."

"...Sir?"

"There's nothing left of the Regiment save for the Colonel's own company. We're taking what assets we can off-planet now."

"You… You're leaving us? Sir?" she prompted incredulously.

"You have the honor of being the ranking member of the Regulars left on Tallin. Congratulations, Lieutenant Rose, the defense of Tallin is in your hands. Die well."

And with that, the connection was ended.

"Die  _well?_ " Ruby snorted to herself. "Yeah, I don't think so."

She flipped back over to the lance frequency. "So, good news and bad news."

"Do tell," Weiss prompted with an air of resignation.

"Well, I just got a battlefield promotion to Lieutenant."

"And that is the good news?"

"The only good news, yeah. As far as the defense of Tallin goes… we're now it. Our orders are to return to base."

"Wait, we're not heading for the spaceport?" Jaune asked, perplexed.

"No, we're not," Ruby answered darkly.

From the direction of the city, then, rose nine squat shapes as the dropships from the regiment clawed their way into the skies.

"Are they lifting off without us?" was Jaune's next rhetorical question.

"Yes, they are."

There was a long, drawn-out pause before Yang finally broke it. "Well, that's some bullshit right there."

"No arguments from me." Ruby turned her 'Mech again to survey the landscape littered with broken Battlemechs. "Weiss, mark Gamma Base's coordinates for everyone and then contact Nebula to come pick up our ejected Mechwarriors. The rest of us, haul back every usable 'Mech chassis you can find, we might have to take a few trips, but believe me, we're gonna need 'em." She grimaced slightly. "Well, those with articulated arms, anyway. Coco and I will escort, we can also grab a couple of BRV's from the base to bring back."

The BRV, or Battlemech Recovery Vehicle, was a large, unarmored flatbed truck with a winch attached that could hoist up to 60 tons onto its back and return it to the nearest repair facility. It'd be slow going, but hopefully, they'd have enough time to recover enough viable salvage to use.

Nodding slowly and pushing to the back of her mind her worries about just how they were going to get out of this predicament, Ruby turned once more to face the remains of her command. "Questions? No? Okay, then, let's move out, people."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Well, shit. They may have won the battle, but looks like they lost the war. Whatever will Ruby plan to pull their bacon out of the fire?
> 
> So, I realized here that I kinda screwed up on the logistics of the Liao forces. I'd only ever referred to the Battalion, whereas there is an entire Regiment on Tallin. One Battalion in the city, two spread out along the countryside. Well, at least until they got chewed up. I've fixed things in prior chapters to make that a little more clear, renaming the Battalion (from the Eighth, not sure why I used that) as well as actually naming the regiment. So Ruby's lance is Third Lance, Bravo Company, within the Third Battalion of the 41st Capellan Regulars. The command Battalion is the First, while the Second was the other one out in the countryside. And then the Colonel's 'elite' company is Alpha Company inside First Battalion.
> 
> Next up, confessions, plans, and contemplations, oh my!
> 
> Many thanks for those reading and reviewing! Stay shiny!


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